Controllability of nonlinear delay oscillating systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chengbin Liang

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we study the controllability of a system governed by second order delay differential equations. We introduce a delay Gramian matrix involving the delayed matrix sine, which is used to establish sufficient and necessary conditions of controllability for the linear problem. In addition, we also construct a specific control function for controllability. For the nonlinear problem, we construct a control function and transfer the controllability problem to a fixed point problem for a suitable operator. We give a sufficient condition to guarantee the nonlinear delay system is controllable. Two examples are given to illustrate our theoretical results by calculating a specific control function and inverse of a delay Gramian matrix.

Communication for command and control systems

CERN Document Server

Morris, D J

1983-01-01

Communication for Command and Control Systems provides a thorough exposition of the basic theoretical and practical features involved in the design of communication networks for command and control systems. This book focuses primarily on the practical side of computer-controlled communication. This text concentrates on the communication sides of the subject by surveying the means of transferring data between the various processing points and by appraising their potential advantages and possible defects in implementation. In this respect, this book should prove useful for the practicing enginee

TFTR diagnostic control and data acquisition system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sauthoff, N.R.; Daniels, R.E.; PPL Computer Division

1985-01-01

General computerized control and data-handling support for TFTR diagnostics is presented within the context of the Central Instrumentation, Control and Data Acquisition (CICADA) System. Procedures, hardware, the interactive man--machine interface, event-driven task scheduling, system-wide arming and data acquisition, and a hierarchical data base of raw data and results are described. Similarities in data structures involved in control, monitoring, and data acquisition afford a simplification of the system functions, based on ''groups'' of devices. Emphases and optimizations appropriate for fusion diagnostic system designs are provided. An off-line data reduction computer system is under development

Study of Systemic Risk Involved in Mutual Funds

Science.gov (United States)

Dash, Kishore C.; Dash, Monika

Systemic risk, may be defined as the risk that contaminates to the whole system, consisting of many interacting agents that fail one after another. These agents, in an economic context, could be firms, banks, funds, or other financial institutions. Systemic risk is a macroscopic property of a system which emerges due to the nonlinear interaction of agents on a microscopic level. A stock market itself is a system in which there are many sub-systems, like Dowjones, Nifty, Sensex, Nasdaq, Nikkei and other market indices in global perspective. In Indian market, subsystems may be like Sensex, Nifty, BSE200, Bankex, smallcap index, midcap index, S&P CNX 500 and many others. Similarly there are many mutual funds, which have their own portfolio of different stocks, bonds etc. We have attempted to study the systemic risk involved in a fund as a macroscopic object with regard to its microscopic components as different stocks in its portfolio. It is observed that fund managers do manage to reduce the systemic risk just like we take precautions to control the spread of an epidemic.

A mathematical model for the generation and control of a pH gradient in an immobilized enzyme system involving acid generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, G; Fournier, R L; Varanasi, S

1998-02-20

An optimal pH control technique has been developed for multistep enzymatic synthesis reactions where the optimal pH differs by several units for each step. This technique separates an acidic environment from a basic environment by the hydrolysis of urea within a thin layer of immobilized urease. With this technique, a two-step enzymatic reaction can take place simultaneously, in proximity to each other, and at their respective optimal pH. Because a reaction system involving an acid generation represents a more challenging test of this pH control technique, a number of factors that affect the generation of such a pH gradient are considered in this study. The mathematical model proposed is based on several simplifying assumptions and represents a first attempt to provide an analysis of this complex problem. The results show that, by choosing appropriate parameters, the pH control technique still can generate the desired pH gradient even if there is an acid-generating reaction in the system. Copyright 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

A plant control system development approach for IRIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, R.T.; Brittain, C.R.; March-Leuba, J.A.; Conway, L.E.; Oriani, L.

2003-01-01

The plant control system concept for the International Reactor Innovative and Secure (IRIS) will make use of integrated control, diagnostic, and decision modules to provide a highly automated intelligent control capability. The plant control system development approach established for IRIS involves determination and verification of control strategies based on whole-plant simulation; identification of measurement, control, and diagnostic needs; development of an architectural framework in which to integrate an intelligent plant control system; and design of the necessary control and diagnostic elements for implementation and validation. This paper describes key elements of the plant control system development approach established for IRIS and presents some of the strategies and methods investigated to support the desired control capabilities. (author)

Modeling, Control and Coordination of Helicopter Systems

CERN Document Server

Ren, Beibei; Chen, Chang; Fua, Cheng-Heng; Lee, Tong Heng

2012-01-01

Modeling, Control and Coordination of Helicopter Systems provides a comprehensive treatment of helicopter systems, ranging from related nonlinear flight dynamic modeling and stability analysis to advanced control design for single helicopter systems, and also covers issues related to the coordination and formation control of multiple helicopter systems to achieve high performance tasks. Ensuring stability in helicopter flight is a challenging problem for nonlinear control design and development. This book is a valuable reference on modeling, control and coordination of helicopter systems,providing readers with practical solutions for the problems that still plague helicopter system design and implementation. Readers will gain a complete picture of helicopters at the systems level, as well as a better understanding of the technical intricacies involved. This book also: Presents a complete picture of modeling, control and coordination for helicopter systems Provides a modeling platform for a general class of ro...

Satellite Attitude Control System Simulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G.T. Conti

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Future space missions will involve satellites with great autonomy and stringent pointing precision, requiring of the Attitude Control Systems (ACS with better performance than before, which is function of the control algorithms implemented on board computers. The difficulties for developing experimental ACS test is to obtain zero gravity and torque free conditions similar to the SCA operate in space. However, prototypes for control algorithms experimental verification are fundamental for space mission success. This paper presents the parameters estimation such as inertia matrix and position of mass centre of a Satellite Attitude Control System Simulator (SACSS, using algorithms based on least square regression and least square recursive methods. Simulations have shown that both methods have estimated the system parameters with small error. However, the least square recursive methods have performance more adequate for the SACSS objectives. The SACSS platform model will be used to do experimental verification of fundamental aspects of the satellite attitude dynamics and design of different attitude control algorithm.

Critical Infrastructure: Control Systems and the Terrorist Threat

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Shea, Dana A

2003-01-01

.... Industrial control computer systems involved in this infrastructure are specific points of vulnerability, as cyber-security for these systems has not been previously perceived as a high priority...

Critical Infrastructure: Control Systems and the Terrorist Threat

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Shea, Dana A

2004-01-01

.... Industrial control computer systems involved in this infrastructure are specific points of vulnerability, as cyber-security for these systems has not been previously perceived as a high priority...

A comprehensive review of rollover accidents involving vehicles equipped with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Padmanaban, Jeya; Shields, Leland E; Scheibe, Robert R; Eyges, Vitaly E

2008-10-01

This study investigated 478 police accident reports from 9 states to examine and characterize rollover crashes involving ESC-equipped vehicles. The focus was on the sequence of critical events leading to loss of control and rollover, and the interactions between the accident, driver, and environment. Results show that, while ESC is effective in reducing loss of control leading to certain rollover crashes, its effectiveness is diminished in others, particularly when the vehicle departs the roadway or when environmental factors such as slick road conditions or driver factors such as speeding, distraction, fatigue, impairment, or overcorrection are present.

Fractional order control and synchronization of chaotic systems

CERN Document Server

Vaidyanathan, Sundarapandian; Ouannas, Adel

2017-01-01

The book reports on the latest advances in and applications of fractional order control and synchronization of chaotic systems, explaining the concepts involved in a clear, matter-of-fact style. It consists of 30 original contributions written by eminent scientists and active researchers in the field that address theories, methods and applications in a number of research areas related to fractional order control and synchronization of chaotic systems, such as: fractional chaotic systems, hyperchaotic systems, complex systems, fractional order discrete chaotic systems, chaos control, chaos synchronization, jerk circuits, fractional chaotic systems with hidden attractors, neural network, fuzzy logic controllers, behavioral modeling, robust and adaptive control, sliding mode control, different types of synchronization, circuit realization of chaotic systems, etc. In addition to providing readers extensive information on chaos fundamentals, fractional calculus, fractional differential equations, fractional contro...

Brain MRI screening showing evidences of early central nervous system involvement in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammed, Reem Hamdy A; Sabry, Yousriah Y; Nasef, Amr A

2011-05-01

Systemic sclerosis is a multisystem autoimmune collagen disease where structural and functional abnormalities of small blood vessels prevail. Transient ischemic attacks, ischemic stroke, and hemorrhage have been reported as primary consequence of vascular central nervous system affection in systemic sclerosis. Magnetic resonance imaging is considered to be the most sensitive diagnostic technique for detecting symptomatic and asymptomatic lesions in the brain in cases of multifocal diseases. The objective of this study is to detect subclinical as well as clinically manifest cerebral vasculopathy in patients with systemic sclerosis using magnetic resonance imaging. As much as 30 female patients with systemic sclerosis aged 27-61 years old, with disease duration of 1-9 years and with no history of other systemic disease or cerebrovascular accidents, were enrolled. Age-matched female control group of 30 clinically normal subjects, underwent brain magnetic resonance examination. Central nervous system (CNS) involvement in the form of white matter hyperintense foci of variable sizes were found in significantly abundant forms in systemic sclerosis patients on magnetic resonance evaluation than in age-related control group, signifying a form of CNS vasculopathy. Such foci showed significant correlation to clinical features of organic CNS lesion including headaches, fainting attacks and organic depression as well as to the severity of peripheral vascular disease with insignificant correlation with disease duration. In conclusion, subclinical as well as clinically manifest CNS ischemic vasculopathy is not uncommon in systemic sclerosis patients and magnetic resonance imaging is considered a sensitive noninvasive screening tool for early detection of CNS involvement in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Flexible AC transmission systems. Modelling and control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Xiao-Ping [Birmingham Univ. (United Kingdom); Rehtanz, Christian [Technische Univ. Dortmund (Germany); Pal, Bikash [Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)

2012-11-01

This monograph presents advanced modelling, analysis and control techniques of FACTS. These topics reflect the recent research and development of FACTS controllers, and anticipate the future applications of FACTS in power systems. The book covers comprehensively a range of power-system control problems: from steady-state voltage and power flow control, to voltage and reactive power control, to voltage stability control, to small signal stability control using FACTS controllers. The book presents the modelling of the latest FACTS controllers for power flow control, compensation and power quality (IPFC, GUPF, VSC HVDC and M-VSCHVDC, etc.) in power system analysis. The selection is evaluated by the actual and likely future practical relevance of each. The material is derived mainly from the research and industrial development in which the authors have been heavily involved. The book is timely and of great value to power engineering engineers and students of modelling, simulations and control design of FACTS for a broad practical range of power system operation, planning and control problems.

Implementation of programmable logic controller for proposed new instrumentation and control system of RTP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Khairulezwan Abdul Manan; Mohd Idris Taib; Mohd Dzul Aiman Aslan

2010-01-01

Reactor Monitoring System is one of very important part of Reactor Instrumentation and Control system. Current monitoring system is using analog system whereby all circuits are discrete circuit and all displays and indicators are not digitalized. The proposed new system will use using a Commercial Off-The-Shelf, state of the art, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system such as Programmable Logic Controller as well as Computer System. The implementations of Programmable Logic Controller are used for Data Acquisition System and as a sub-system for Computer System where all the activities involved are stored for operation record and report as well as use for research purposes. Programmable Logic Controller receives galvanised or optically isolated signal from Reactor Protection System. Programmable Logic Controller also receives signal from other parameters as a digital and analog input related to reactor system. (author)

Access Control Management for SCADA Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Seng-Phil; Ahn, Gail-Joon; Xu, Wenjuan

The information technology revolution has transformed all aspects of our society including critical infrastructures and led a significant shift from their old and disparate business models based on proprietary and legacy environments to more open and consolidated ones. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems have been widely used not only for industrial processes but also for some experimental facilities. Due to the nature of open environments, managing SCADA systems should meet various security requirements since system administrators need to deal with a large number of entities and functions involved in critical infrastructures. In this paper, we identify necessary access control requirements in SCADA systems and articulate access control policies for the simulated SCADA systems. We also attempt to analyze and realize those requirements and policies in the context of role-based access control that is suitable for simplifying administrative tasks in large scale enterprises.

[Central nervous system involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus - diagnosis and therapy].

Science.gov (United States)

Szmyrka, Magdalena

Nervous system involvement in lupus belongs to its severe complications and significantly impacts its prognosis. Neuropsychiatric lupus includes 19 disease manifestations concerning both central and peripheral nervous system. This paper presents clinical aspects of central nervous system involvement in lupus. It reviews its epidemiology, risk factors and principles of diagnosis and therapy.

Decentralized adaptive control of interconnected nonlinear systems with unknown control directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jiangshuai; Wang, Qing-Guo

2018-03-01

In this paper, we propose a decentralized adaptive control scheme for a class of interconnected strict-feedback nonlinear systems without a priori knowledge of subsystems' control directions. To address this problem, a novel Nussbaum-type function is proposed and a key theorem is drawn which involves quantifying the interconnections of multiple Nussbaum-type functions of the subsystems with different control directions in a single inequality. Global stability of the closed-loop system and asymptotic stabilization of subsystems' output are proved and a simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Improved Method to Control the Critical Parameters of a Multivariable Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Subha Hency Jims, P.; Dharmalingam, S.; Wessley, G. Jims John

2017-10-01

The role of control systems is to cope with the process deficiencies and the undesirable effect of the external disturbances. Most of the multivariable processes are highly iterative and complex in nature. Aircraft systems, Modern Power Plants, Refineries, Robotic systems are few such complex systems that involve numerous critical parameters that need to be monitored and controlled. Control of these important parameters is not only tedious and cumbersome but also is crucial from environmental, safety and quality perspective. In this paper, one such multivariable system, namely, a utility boiler has been considered. A modern power plant is a complex arrangement of pipework and machineries with numerous interacting control loops and support systems. In this paper, the calculation of controller parameters based on classical tuning concepts has been presented. The controller parameters thus obtained and employed has controlled the critical parameters of a boiler during fuel switching disturbances. The proposed method can be applied to control the critical parameters like elevator, aileron, rudder, elevator trim rudder and aileron trim, flap control systems of aircraft systems.

Development and Evaluation of Fault-Tolerant Flight Control Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yong D.; Gupta, Kajal (Technical Monitor)

2004-01-01

The research is concerned with developing a new approach to enhancing fault tolerance of flight control systems. The original motivation for fault-tolerant control comes from the need for safe operation of control elements (e.g. actuators) in the event of hardware failures in high reliability systems. One such example is modem space vehicle subjected to actuator/sensor impairments. A major task in flight control is to revise the control policy to balance impairment detectability and to achieve sufficient robustness. This involves careful selection of types and parameters of the controllers and the impairment detecting filters used. It also involves a decision, upon the identification of some failures, on whether and how a control reconfiguration should take place in order to maintain a certain system performance level. In this project new flight dynamic model under uncertain flight conditions is considered, in which the effects of both ramp and jump faults are reflected. Stabilization algorithms based on neural network and adaptive method are derived. The control algorithms are shown to be effective in dealing with uncertain dynamics due to external disturbances and unpredictable faults. The overall strategy is easy to set up and the computation involved is much less as compared with other strategies. Computer simulation software is developed. A serious of simulation studies have been conducted with varying flight conditions.

Implementation of FCI heating system to the control system of Tore-Supra

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wisniewski, S.

2001-11-01

This report presents the implementation of the ion cyclotron resonance heating system (FCI) to the instrumentation and control system of the Tore-Supra tokamak. The new plasma heating system involves 3 antennas delivering 12 MW that are required to maintain fusion reactions. This paper is divided into 8 chapters: 1) thermonuclear fusion and Tore-Supra tokamak; 2) hardware system around Tore-Supra, in this chapter the control system and the data acquisition and processing systems are presented; 3) functional analysis, this analysis defines the different needs concerning timing and pilot-controlling, a preliminary proposition of hardware equipment is made; 4) operating modes of FCI; 5) communication within the control system network; 6) communication with the supervisory system of the power stations; 7) management of data exchange with SMX generators; and 8) control of the rate of stationary waves during the injection of power into the plasma

Understanding and controlling the enteric nervous system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boeckxstaens, G. E.

2002-01-01

The enteric nervous system or the `Little Brain' of the gut controls gastrointestinal motility and secretion, and is involved in visceral sensation. In this chapter, new developments in understanding the function of the enteric nervous system are described. In particular, the interaction of this

Linear dynamical quantum systems analysis, synthesis, and control

CERN Document Server

Nurdin, Hendra I

2017-01-01

This monograph provides an in-depth treatment of the class of linear-dynamical quantum systems. The monograph presents a detailed account of the mathematical modeling of these systems using linear algebra and quantum stochastic calculus as the main tools for a treatment that emphasizes a system-theoretic point of view and the control-theoretic formulations of quantum versions of familiar problems from the classical (non-quantum) setting, including estimation and filtering, realization theory, and feedback control. Both measurement-based feedback control (i.e., feedback control by a classical system involving a continuous-time measurement process) and coherent feedback control (i.e., feedback control by another quantum system without the intervention of any measurements in the feedback loop) are treated. Researchers and graduates studying systems and control theory, quantum probability and stochastics or stochastic control whether from backgrounds in mechanical or electrical engineering or applied mathematics ...

Development of an integrated control and measurement system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manges, W.W.

1984-03-01

This thesis presents a tutorial on the issues involved in the development of a minicomputer-based, distributed intelligence data acquisition and process control system to support complex experimental facilities. The particular system discussed in this thesis is under development for the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) Program at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant (ORGDP). In the AVLIS program, we were careful to integrate the computer sections of the implementation into the instrumentation system rather than adding them as an appendage. We then addressed the reliability and availability of the system as a separate concern. Thus, our concept of an integrated control and measurement (ICAM) system forms the basis for this thesis. This thesis details the logic and philosophy that went into the development of this system and explains why the commercially available turn-key systems generally are not suitable. Also, the issues involved in the specification of the components for such an integrated system are emphasized

Quantifying balance control during stance : a multivariate system identification approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Engelhart, Denise

2015-01-01

Balance control involves the contribution of neural, muscular and sensory systems, which work together via complex feedback pathways in a closed loop. With age or disease, the underlying systems in balance control can deteriorate; e.g. muscle strength decreases, the sensory systems become less

Relevant Costs for Decision in an Effective Controlling System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela TULVINSCHI

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Controlling is considered a leading concept in the sense of coordination, planning, control and automation, in order to produce the synthesis necessary in decision making. The purpose of article is to highlight the link between a dynamic accounting system and an effective controlling system. The research method used is based on the idea that the cost analysis in an efficient controlling system involves obtaining accounting information from within the entity which management then uses in decision making. In conclusion, we emphasize that an effective controlling system must provide managers the tools to meet their informational needs.

Retrofit of new digital control systems in existing power stations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, J.E.; Baird, C.F.

1986-01-01

With the notable exception of the Canadian CANDU nuclear power stations, little use has been made of digital control in North American nuclear stations. Recently, however, there has been renewed interest in such systems within the nuclear industry in response to demands for better ergonomics in control room design and the obsolescence of control equipment whose fundamental design has changed little in 20 yr. Early in 1985, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited was asked by New Brunswick Power to advise on the redesign of the control systems for two fossil-fired generating stations, Coleson Cove and Courtenay Bay Unit 4. Coleson Cove is to be converted from oil to coal firing with consequent extensive control system changes and Courtenay Bay Unit 4 required a low-cost solution to the problem of relocating its control room from the existing isolated location to the combined control center used by units 1, 2, and 3. In both cases, the recommended solution involves the retrofit of state-of-the-art digital control systems. Although the units involved are nonnuclear the experience is applicable

Observer-Based Robust Control of Uncertain Switched Fuzzy Systems with Combined Switching Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong Yang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The observer-based robust control for a class of switched fuzzy (SF time-delay systems involving uncertainties and external disturbances is investigated in this paper. A switched fuzzy system, which differs from existing ones, is firstly employed to describe a nonlinear system. Next, a combined switching controller is proposed. The designed controller based on the observer instead of the state information integrates the advantages of both the switching controllers and the supplementary controllers but eliminates their disadvantages. The proposed controller provides good performance during the transient period, and the chattering effect is removed when the system state approaches the origin. Sufficient condition for the solvability of the robust control problem is given for the case that the state of system is not available. Since convex combination techniques are used to derive the delay-independent criteria, some subsystems are allowed to be unstable. Finally, various comparisons of the elaborated examples are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control design approach.

Adaptive PI Controller for a Nonlinear System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Rathikarani

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Most of the industrial processes are inherently nonlinear in their behaviour. Designs of controllers for these nonlinear processes are difficult, as they do not follow superposition theorem. Adaptive controller can change its behaviour in response to changes in the dynamics of the process and disturbances. Hence adaptive controller can be used to control nonlinear processes. Direct Model Reference Adaptive Control is a technique, in which a reference model involving the desired performances is specified. In the present work, a DMRAC is designed and implemented to achieve satisfactory control of a nonlinear system in all its local linear operating regions. The closed loop system is made BIBO stable by proper control techniques. The controller is designed through simulation in Matlab platform and is validated in real time by conducting experiments on the laboratory Air Flow Control System using the dSPACE interface.

Complex optimization of radiometric control and measurement systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onishchenko, A.M.

1995-01-01

Fundamentals of a new approach to increase in the accuracy of radiometric systems of control and measurements are presented in succession. Block diagram of the new concept of radiometric system optimization is provided. The approach involving radical increase in accuracy and envisages ascertaining of controlled parameter by the totality of two intelligence signals closely correlated with each other. The new concept makes use of system analysis as a unified one-piece object, permitting euristic synthesis of the system. 4 refs., 3 figs

Internet Congestion Control System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pranoto Rusmin

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Internet congestion occurs when resource demands exceeds the network capacity. But, it is not the only reason. Congestion can happen on some users because some others user has higher sending rate. Then some users with lower sending rate will experience congestion. This partial congestion is caused by inexactly feedback. At this moment congestion are solved by the involvement of two controlling mechanisms. These mechanisms are flow/congestion control in the TCP source and Active Queue Management (AQM in the router. AQM will provide feedback to the source a kind of indication for the occurrence of the congestion in the router, whereas the source will adapt the sending rate appropriate with the feedback. These mechanisms are not enough to solve internet congestion problem completely. Therefore, this paper will explain internet congestion causes, weakness, and congestion control technique that researchers have been developed. To describe congestion system mechanisms and responses, the system will be simulated by Matlab.

Control of optical systems

Science.gov (United States)

Founds, D.

1988-01-01

Some of the current and planned activities at the Air Force Systems Command in structures and controls for optical-type systems are summarized. Many of the activities are contracted to industry; one task is an in-house program which includes a hardware test program. The objective of the in-house program, referred to as the Aluminum Beam Expander Structure (ABES), is to address issues involved in on-orbit system identification. The structure, which appears similar to the LDR backup structure, is about 35 feet tall. The activity to date has been limited to acquisition of about 250 hours of test data. About 30 hours of data per excitation force is gathered in order to obtain sufficient data for a good statistical estimate of the structural parameters. The development of an Integrated Structural Modeling (ISM) computer program is being done by Boeing Aerospace Company. The objective of the contracted effort is to develop a combined optics, structures, thermal, controls, and multibody dynamics simulation code.

SUBSURFACE REPOSITORY INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

C.J. Fernado

1998-01-01

The purpose of this document is to develop preliminary high-level functional and physical control system architectures for the proposed subsurface repository at Yucca Mountain. This document outlines overall control system concepts that encompass and integrate the many diverse systems being considered for use within the subsurface repository. This document presents integrated design concepts for monitoring and controlling the diverse set of subsurface operations. The subsurface repository design will be composed of a series of diverse systems that will be integrated to accomplish a set of overall functions and objectives. The subsurface repository contains several Instrumentation and Control (I andC) related systems including: waste emplacement systems, ventilation systems, communication systems, radiation monitoring systems, rail transportation systems, ground control monitoring systems, utility monitoring systems (electrical, lighting, water, compressed air, etc.), fire detection and protection systems, retrieval systems, and performance confirmation systems. Each of these systems involve some level of I andC and will typically be integrated over a data communication network. The subsurface I andC systems will also integrate with multiple surface-based site-wide systems such as emergency response, health physics, security and safeguards, communications, utilities and others. The scope and primary objectives of this analysis are to: (1) Identify preliminary system level functions and interface needs (Presented in the functional diagrams in Section 7.2). (2) Examine the overall system complexity and determine how and on what levels these control systems will be controlled and integrated (Presented in Section 7.2). (3) Develop a preliminary subsurface facility-wide design for an overall control system architecture, and depict this design by a series of control system functional block diagrams (Presented in Section 7.2). (4) Develop a series of physical architectures

SUBSURFACE REPOSITORY INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

C.J. Fernado

1998-09-17

The purpose of this document is to develop preliminary high-level functional and physical control system architectures for the proposed subsurface repository at Yucca Mountain. This document outlines overall control system concepts that encompass and integrate the many diverse systems being considered for use within the subsurface repository. This document presents integrated design concepts for monitoring and controlling the diverse set of subsurface operations. The subsurface repository design will be composed of a series of diverse systems that will be integrated to accomplish a set of overall functions and objectives. The subsurface repository contains several Instrumentation and Control (I&C) related systems including: waste emplacement systems, ventilation systems, communication systems, radiation monitoring systems, rail transportation systems, ground control monitoring systems, utility monitoring systems (electrical, lighting, water, compressed air, etc.), fire detection and protection systems, retrieval systems, and performance confirmation systems. Each of these systems involve some level of I&C and will typically be integrated over a data communication network. The subsurface I&C systems will also integrate with multiple surface-based site-wide systems such as emergency response, health physics, security and safeguards, communications, utilities and others. The scope and primary objectives of this analysis are to: (1) Identify preliminary system level functions and interface needs (Presented in the functional diagrams in Section 7.2). (2) Examine the overall system complexity and determine how and on what levels these control systems will be controlled and integrated (Presented in Section 7.2). (3) Develop a preliminary subsurface facility-wide design for an overall control system architecture, and depict this design by a series of control system functional block diagrams (Presented in Section 7.2). (4) Develop a series of physical architectures that

Real-time control systems: feedback, scheduling and robustness

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Daniel; Seuret, Alexandre; Sename, Olivier

2017-08-01

The efficient control of real-time distributed systems, where continuous components are governed through digital devices and communication networks, needs a careful examination of the constraints arising from the different involved domains inside co-design approaches. Thanks to the robustness of feedback control, both new control methodologies and slackened real-time scheduling schemes are proposed beyond the frontiers between these traditionally separated fields. A methodology to design robust aperiodic controllers is provided, where the sampling interval is considered as a control variable of the system. Promising experimental results are provided to show the feasibility and robustness of the approach.

Master Console System Monitoring and Control Development

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Russell A.

2013-01-01

The Master Console internship during the summer of 2013 involved the development of firing room displays and support applications at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). This position was with the Master Console Product Group (MCPG) on the Launch Control System (LCS) project. This project is responsible for the System Monitoring and Control (SMC) and Record and Retrieval (R&R) of launch operations data. The Master Console is responsible for: loading the correct software into each of the remaining consoles in the firing room, connecting the proper data paths to and from the launch vehicle and all ground support equipment, and initializing the entire firing room system to begin processing. During my internship, I created control scripts using the Application Control Language (ACL) to analyze the health and status of Kennedy Ground Control System (KGCS) programmable logic controllers (PLCs). This application provides a system health and status display I created with summarized data for use by Master Console Operators (MCO) to monitor and verify the integrity of KGCS subsystems.

Mechanism for iron control of the Vibrio fischeri luminescence system: involvement of cyclic AMP and cyclic AMP receptor protein and modulation of DNA level.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunlap, P V

1992-07-01

Iron controls luminescence in Vibrio fischeri by an indirect but undefined mechanism. To gain insight into that mechanism, the involvement of cyclic AMP (cAMP) and cAMP receptor protein (CRP) and of modulation of DNA levels in iron control of luminescence were examined in V. fischeri and in Escherichia coli containing the cloned V. fischeri lux genes on plasmids. For V. fischeri and E. coli adenylate cyclase (cya) and CRP (crp) mutants containing intact lux genes (luxR luxICDABEG), presence of the iron chelator ethylenediamine-di(o-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid) (EDDHA) increased expression of the luminescence system like in the parent strains only in the cya mutants in the presence of added cAMP. In the E. coli strains containing a plasmid with a Mu dl(lacZ) fusion in luxR, levels of beta-galactosidase activity (expression from the luxR promoter) and luciferase activity (expression from the lux operon promoter) were both 2-3-fold higher in the presence of EDDHA in the parent strain, and for the mutants this response to EDDHA was observed only in the cya mutant in the presence of added cAMP. Therefore, cAMP and CRP are required for the iron restriction effect on luminescence, and their involvement in iron control apparently is distinct from the known differential control of transcription from the luxR and luxICDABEG promoters by cAMP-CRP. Furthermore, plasmid and chromosomal DNA levels were higher in E. coli and V. fischeri in the presence of EDDHA. The higher DNA levels correlated with an increase in expression of chromosomally encoded beta-galactosidase in E. coli and with a higher level of autoinducer in cultures of V. fischeri. These results implicate cAMP-CRP and modulation of DNA levels in the mechanism of iron control of the V. fischeri luminescence system.

Hybrid dynamical systems observation and control

CERN Document Server

Defoort, Michael

2015-01-01

This book is a collection of contributions defining the state of current knowledge and new trends in hybrid systems – systems involving both continuous dynamics and discrete events – as described by the work of several well-known groups of researchers. Hybrid Dynamical Systems presents theoretical advances in such areas as diagnosability, observability and stabilization for various classes of system. Continuous and discrete state estimation and self-triggering control of nonlinear systems are advanced. The text employs various methods, among them, high-order sliding modes, Takagi–Sugeno representation and sampled-data switching to achieve its ends. The many applications of hybrid systems from power converters to computer science are not forgotten; studies of flexible-joint robotic arms and – as representative biological systems – the behaviour of the human heart and vasculature, demonstrate the wide-ranging practical significance of control in hybrid systems. The cross-disciplinary origins of study ...

Employing expert systems for process control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahrens, W.

1987-01-01

The characteristic features of expert systems are explained in detail, and the systems' application in process control engineering. Four points of main interest are there, namely: Applications for diagnostic tasks, for safety analyses, planning, and training and expert training. For the modelling of the technical systems involved in all four task fields mentioned above, an object-centred approach has shown to be the suitable method, as process control techniques are determined by technical objects that in principle are specified by data sheets, schematic representations, flow charts, and plans. The graphical surface allows these data to be taken into account, so that the object can be displayed in the way best suited to the individual purposes. (orig./GL) [de

Integrated control and diagnostic system architectures for future installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, R.; March-Leuba, J.

2000-01-01

Nuclear reactors of the 21st century will employ increasing levels of automation and fault tolerance to increase availability, reduce accident risk, and lower operating costs. Key developments in control algorithms, fault diagnostics, fault tolerance, and distributed communications are needed to implement the fully automated plant. It will be equally challenging to integrate developments in separate information and control fields into a cohesive system, which collectively achieves the overall goals of improved safety, reliability, maintainability, and cost-effectiveness. Under the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI), the US Department of Energy is sponsoring a project to address some of the technical issues involved in meeting the long-range goal of 21st century reactor control systems. This project involves researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, and North Carolina State University. The research tasks under this project focus on some of the first-level breakthroughs in control design, diagnostic techniques, and information system design that will provide a path to enable the design process to be automated in the future. This paper describes the conceptual development of an integrated nuclear plant control and information system architecture, which incorporates automated control system development that can be traced to a set of technical requirements. The expectation is that an integrated plant architecture with optimal control and efficient use of diagnostic information can reduce the potential for operational errors and minimize challenges to the plant safety systems

Characteristics of joint involvement and relationships with systemic inflammation in systemic sclerosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Avouac, Jerome; Walker, Ulrich; Tyndall, Alan

2010-01-01

To determine the prevalence of and independent factors associated with joint involvement in a large population of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).......To determine the prevalence of and independent factors associated with joint involvement in a large population of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc)....

Bladder involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric Roger Wroclawski

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To study bladder involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus patients through clinical and laboratorial evaluation, ultrasonography, radiological and endoscopic examination. Methods: Thirty-nine patients, either outpatients or inpatients at the Department of Rheumatology of Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina from Universidade de São Paulo were evaluated as to clinical and laboratorial data. All patients were submitted to ultrasonographic evaluation of the upper urinary tract, radiological and endoscopic examinations of the middle and lower urinary tracts. Rresults: Mean age of patients varied between 13 and 62 years (median = 29 years. Thirty-six were females and three were males. The disease varied from 6 months to 22 years (median three years and one month. Clinical and laboratory activity of the disease was present in 30 patients. Twenty-two patients had the diagnosis of lupus established for three years or more. Twenty-five patients were asymptomatic and all had received corticosteroids for treatment at least once. Twenty-three received antimalarial drugs; ten received cytostatics, and seven patients received non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs. Upper urinary tract ultrasonography was normal in all cases but one with staghorn calculus associated with neurogenic bladder secondary to neurological involvement by the disease. Vesicoureteral reflux was observed in two cases. Other two patients had significant post-voiding residual urine, both with neurogenic bladder secondary to nervous system involvement by lupus. The average bladder maximum capacity in an awaken patient was 342 mL, and was decreased in 18.9% of cases. This subgroup of patients presented a greater frequency of urinary symptoms and greater use of cytostatic drugs (Z > Z5%. A pathognomonic cystoscopic pattern of bladder involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus could not be established. Cystoscopic aspects similar to those seen in the initial or minor

La Hague environment centralized control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalimbadjian, J.

1991-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to show what we are doing in the area of environmental monitoring and control in accordance with the basic principles we set out for ourselves. As we have seen, our objectives are twofold; first, to monitor the installations under normal operating conditions in accordance with the rules and within the imposed limits and, secondly, in the event of an accident involving any of the material at the plant, to determine the foreseeable consequences in order to provide the relevant authorities, who have to take the necessary measures to protect the personnel and the population, with all the help they need. Normal operation is guaranteed by effective control of liquid and gaseous discharges, by knowing the precise origin and nature of the radio-elements released and also the means of transfer leading to humans. This knowledge relies upon the interpretation of the systematic measurements which have been carried out, which can only be done by centralising and computerising the data involved. The use of third-generation radio protection equipment in combination with highly-developed computer systems has made it possible to set up a centralised environmental control station. In the event of abnormal occurrences, the software used to show the transfer of radio-elements in the air, the water, or the ground, along with the use of systematic measurements, makes it possible to determine the foreseeable consequences and to design a system of predictive monitoring. It has been possible to set up the centralised control system because of the development in computerised equipment and systems, but it has only been possible to operate this system because of the capacity of the personnel to adapt to the changeover to technology. (author)

Central nervous system involvement by multiple myeloma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jurczyszyn, Artur; Grzasko, Norbert; Gozzetti, Alessandro

2016-01-01

The multicenter retrospective study conducted in 38 centers from 20 countries including 172 adult patients with CNS MM aimed to describe the clinical and pathological characteristics and outcomes of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) involving the central nervous system (CNS). Univariate......, 97% patients received initial therapy for CNS disease, of which 76% received systemic therapy, 36% radiotherapy and 32% intrathecal therapy. After a median follow-up of 3.5 years, the median overall survival (OS) from the onset of CNS involvement for the entire group was 7 months. Untreated...... untreated patients and patients with favorable cytogenetic profile might be prolonged due to systemic treatment and/or radiotherapy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved....

External Control of Knowledge of Results: Learner Involvement Enhances Motor Skill Transfer.

Science.gov (United States)

Figueiredo, L S; Ugrinowitsch, H; Freire, A B; Shea, J B; Benda, R N

2018-04-01

Providing the learner control over aspects of practice has improved the process of motor skill acquisition, and self-controlled knowledge of results (KR) schedules have shown specific advantages over externally controlled ones. A possible explanation is that self-controlled KR schedules lead learners to more active task involvement, permitting deeper information processing. This study tested this explanatory hypothesis. Thirty undergraduate volunteers of both sexes, aged 18 to 35, all novices in the task, practiced transporting a tennis ball in a specified sequence within a time goal. We compared a high-involvement group (involvement yoked, IY), notified in advance about upcoming KR trials, to self-controlled KR (SC) and yoked KR (YK) groups. The experiment consisted of three phases: acquisition, retention, and transfer. We found both IY and SC groups to be superior to YK for transfer of learning. Postexperiment participant questionnaires confirmed a preference for receiving KR after learner-perceived good trials, even though performance on those trials did not differ from performance on trials without KR. Equivalent IY and SC performances provide support for the benefits of task involvement and deeper information processing when KR is self-controlled in motor skill acquisition.

An Indoor Location-Based Control System Using Bluetooth Beacons for IoT Systems

OpenAIRE

Jun-Ho Huh; Kyungryong Seo

2017-01-01

The indoor location-based control system estimates the indoor position of a user to provide the service he/she requires. The major elements involved in the system are the localization server, service-provision client, user application positioning technology. The localization server controls access of terminal devices (e.g., Smart Phones and other wireless devices) to determine their locations within a specified space first and then the service-provision client initiates required services such...

Borderline personality disorder symptoms and criminal justice system involvement: The roles of emotion-driven difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors and physical Aggression.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Kelly E; Tull, Matthew T; Gratz, Kim L

2017-07-01

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with elevated risk for a variety of risky behaviors, including criminal behaviors. Yet, limited research has examined the relation of BPD to criminal justice (CJ) involvement, or the mechanisms underlying this relation. This study examined the role of two mechanisms, emotion-driven difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors and physical aggression, in the relation between BPD symptom severity and CJ involvement among 118 patients in residential substance abuse treatment (76% male; 62% African-American). Participants completed measures of BPD symptom severity, CJ contact, diversity of CJ charges, emotion-driven impulse control difficulties, physical aggression, and covariates (substance use severity and antisocial personality disorder symptoms). BPD symptom severity was associated with CJ contact through emotion-driven difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors, and with diversity of CJ charges through emotion-driven difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors and physical aggression; however, the indirect relations to diversity of CJ charges became non-significant when covariates were included. Results highlight the important role of emotion-driven difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors in criminal behaviors among individuals with BPD symptoms, as well as the potential clinical utility of targeting this mechanism to prevent CJ involvement and/or recidivism. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sjogrens Syndrome Presenting with Central Nervous System Involvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tülay Terzi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Sjogren’s syndrome is a slowly progressive autoimmune disease. Neurological involvement occurs in approximately 20-25% cases in Sjogren’s syndrome. 87% of the neurological involvement is peripheral nervous system, almost 13% in the form of central nervous system involvement. Affected central nervous system may show similar clinical and radiological findings as in multiple sclerosis (MS. In this paper, a 43-year-old patient is discussed who was referred with the complaint of dizziness, there was MS- like lesions in brain imaging studies and was diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome. MS- like clinical and radiologic tables can be seen, albeit rarely in Sjogren’s syndrome. In these cases, early diagnosis and early treatment for the sjögren has a great importance for the prognosis of the disease.

Partial Internal Control Recovery on 1-D Klein-Gordon Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iwan Pranoto

2010-03-01

Full Text Available In this exposition, a technique to recover internal control on a distributed parameter system is reported. The system is described by 1-D Klein-Gordon partial differential equation with a time-varying parameter. We would like to recover the internal control applied to the system if we know some limited information about the output. We use a method called sentinel method to recover the internal control. It involves some construction of a linear functional, and we show that this construction relates closely to the exact controllability problem.

SUBSURFACE REPOSITORY INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEM DESIGN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Randle, D.C.

2000-01-01

The primary purpose of this document is to develop a preliminary high-level functional and physical control system architecture for the potential repository at Yucca Mountain. This document outlines an overall control system concept that encompasses and integrates the many diverse process and communication systems being developed for the subsurface repository design. This document presents integrated design concepts for monitoring and controlling the diverse set of subsurface operations. The Subsurface Repository Integrated Control System design will be composed of a series of diverse process systems and communication networks. The subsurface repository design contains many systems related to instrumentation and control (I andC) for both repository development and waste emplacement operations. These systems include waste emplacement, waste retrieval, ventilation, radiological and air monitoring, rail transportation, construction development, utility systems (electrical, lighting, water, compressed air, etc.), fire protection, backfill emplacement, and performance confirmation. Each of these systems involves some level of I andC and will typically be integrated over a data communications network throughout the subsurface facility. The subsurface I andC systems will also interface with multiple surface-based systems such as site operations, rail transportation, security and safeguards, and electrical/piped utilities. In addition to the I andC systems, the subsurface repository design also contains systems related to voice and video communications. The components for each of these systems will be distributed and linked over voice and video communication networks throughout the subsurface facility. The scope and primary objectives of this design analysis are to: (1) Identify preliminary system-level functions and interfaces (Section 6.2). (2) Examine the overall system complexity and determine how and on what levels the engineered process systems will be monitored

Implementation of FCI heating system to the control system of Tore-Supra; Integration du systeme de chauffage FCI au sein du reseau de controle commande du Tokamak Tore Supra

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wisniewski, S

2001-11-01

This report presents the implementation of the ion cyclotron resonance heating system (FCI) to the instrumentation and control system of the Tore-Supra tokamak. The new plasma heating system involves 3 antennas delivering 12 MW that are required to maintain fusion reactions. This paper is divided into 8 chapters: 1) thermonuclear fusion and Tore-Supra tokamak; 2) hardware system around Tore-Supra, in this chapter the control system and the data acquisition and processing systems are presented; 3) functional analysis, this analysis defines the different needs concerning timing and pilot-controlling, a preliminary proposition of hardware equipment is made; 4) operating modes of FCI; 5) communication within the control system network; 6) communication with the supervisory system of the power stations; 7) management of data exchange with SMX generators; and 8) control of the rate of stationary waves during the injection of power into the plasma.

Evolution of the racetrack microtron control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, E.R.; Schneider, C.M.; Martinez, V.A.; Trout, R.E.; Gritzo, R.E.

1982-01-01

Ultimately, the true measure of a control system lies in how well initial decisions allow for exigencies, as the overall machine evolves and requirements solidify. Recognizing that advances in electronic technology virtually guarantee that any system will be technologically out of date by the time it is operational, the criteria really do not involve the state of the technological advancement, but instead legitimately ask whether the control-system design can adjust to the inevitable machine-design changes, whether the operators can use it to control the machine in a reasonable manner, whether it was built within budget constraints, or, in short, whether it works. On these bases, our initial decisions on the racetrack microtron (RTM) control system have been increasingly vindicated as the system has evolved, and we feel that our experiences have shed some light on just which criteria are of real importance, and which are merely a part of the lore of popular misinformation. Unless the basic requirements are met, technical elegance is no virtue, and when they are met, design simplicity is no vice

Cardiovascular involvement in systemic rheumatic diseases: An integrated view for the treating physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kwang Seob; Kronbichler, Andreas; Eisenhut, Michael; Lee, Keum Hwa; Shin, Jae Il

2018-03-01

Systemic autoimmune diseases can affect various kinds of organs including the kidney, the skin, soft tissue and the bone. Among others, cardiovascular involvement in rheumatic diseases has been shown to affect myocardium, pericardium, cardiac vessels, conduction system and valves, eventually leading to increased mortality. In general, underlying chronic inflammation leads to premature atherosclerosis, but also other manifestations such as arrhythmia and heart failure may have a 'silent' progress. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors play a secondary role, while disease-specific factors (i.e. disease duration, severity, antibody positivity, persistent disease activity) can directly influence the cardiovascular system. Therefore, early diagnosis is critical to optimize management and to control inflammatory activity and recent data suggest that risk factors (i.e. hypercholesterolemia and hypertension) need intensive treatment as well. With the advent of immunosuppressive agents, most rheumatic diseases are well controlled on treatment, but information related to their cardioprotective efficacy is not well-defined. In this review, we focus on cardiovascular involvement in rheumatic diseases and highlight current evidence which should be of help for the treating physicians. Moreover, cardiotoxicity of immunosuppressive drugs is a rare issue and such potential adverse events will be briefly discussed. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Optimal control applications in electric power systems

CERN Document Server

Christensen, G S; Soliman, S A

1987-01-01

Significant advances in the field of optimal control have been made over the past few decades. These advances have been well documented in numerous fine publications, and have motivated a number of innovations in electric power system engineering, but they have not yet been collected in book form. Our purpose in writing this book is to provide a description of some of the applications of optimal control techniques to practical power system problems. The book is designed for advanced undergraduate courses in electric power systems, as well as graduate courses in electrical engineering, applied mathematics, and industrial engineering. It is also intended as a self-study aid for practicing personnel involved in the planning and operation of electric power systems for utilities, manufacturers, and consulting and government regulatory agencies. The book consists of seven chapters. It begins with an introductory chapter that briefly reviews the history of optimal control and its power system applications and also p...

Division of Cyber Safety and Security Responsibilities Between Control System Owners and Suppliers

OpenAIRE

Skotnes , Ruth

2016-01-01

Part 2: CONTROL SYSTEMS SECURITY; International audience; The chapter discusses the important issue of responsibility for information and communications technology (ICT) – or cyber – safety and security for industrial control systems and the challenges involved in dividing the responsibility between industrial control system owners and suppliers in the Norwegian electric power supply industry. Industrial control system owners are increasingly adopting information and communications technologi...

Arm coordination in octopus crawling involves unique motor control strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Levy, Guy; Flash, Tamar; Hochner, Binyamin

2015-05-04

To cope with the exceptional computational complexity that is involved in the control of its hyper-redundant arms [1], the octopus has adopted unique motor control strategies in which the central brain activates rather autonomous motor programs in the elaborated peripheral nervous system of the arms [2, 3]. How octopuses coordinate their eight long and flexible arms in locomotion is still unknown. Here, we present the first detailed kinematic analysis of octopus arm coordination in crawling. The results are surprising in several respects: (1) despite its bilaterally symmetrical body, the octopus can crawl in any direction relative to its body orientation; (2) body and crawling orientation are monotonically and independently controlled; and (3) contrasting known animal locomotion, octopus crawling lacks any apparent rhythmical patterns in limb coordination, suggesting a unique non-rhythmical output of the octopus central controller. We show that this uncommon maneuverability is derived from the radial symmetry of the arms around the body and the simple pushing-by-elongation mechanism by which the arms create the crawling thrust. These two together enable a mechanism whereby the central controller chooses in a moment-to-moment fashion which arms to recruit for pushing the body in an instantaneous direction. Our findings suggest that the soft molluscan body has affected in an embodied way [4, 5] the emergence of the adaptive motor behavior of the octopus. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An efficient control algorithm for nonlinear systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinha, S.

1990-12-01

We suggest a scheme to step up the efficiency of a recently proposed adaptive control algorithm, which is remarkably effective for regulating nonlinear systems. The technique involves monitoring of the ''stiffness of control'' to get maximum gain while maintaining a predetermined accuracy. The success of the procedure is demonstrated for the case of the logistic map, where we show that the improvement in performance is often factors of tens, and for small control stiffness, even factors of hundreds. (author). 4 refs, 1 fig., 1 tab

Cellular Decomposition Based Hybrid-Hierarchical Control Systems with Applications to Flight Management Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Caines, P. E.

1999-01-01

The work in this research project has been focused on the construction of a hierarchical hybrid control theory which is applicable to flight management systems. The motivation and underlying philosophical position for this work has been that the scale, inherent complexity and the large number of agents (aircraft) involved in an air traffic system imply that a hierarchical modelling and control methodology is required for its management and real time control. In the current work the complex discrete or continuous state space of a system with a small number of agents is aggregated in such a way that discrete (finite state machine or supervisory automaton) controlled dynamics are abstracted from the system's behaviour. High level control may then be either directly applied at this abstracted level, or, if this is in itself of significant complexity, further layers of abstractions may be created to produce a system with an acceptable degree of complexity at each level. By the nature of this construction, high level commands are necessarily realizable at lower levels in the system.

A bottom-up approach to automatically configured Tango control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rubio-Manrique, S.; Beltran, D.; Costa, I.; Fernandez-Carreiras, D.; Gigante, J.V.; Klora, J.; Matilla, O.; Ranz, R.; Ribas, J.; Sanchez, O.

2012-01-01

Alba is the first synchrotron light source built in Spain. Most of Alba control system has been developed on top of Tango control system. An amount of 5531 devices are controlled in Alba accelerators (linac, booster and storage ring) using 150 Linux PCs. Alba maintains a central repository, so called 'Cabling and Controls database' (CCDB), which keeps the inventory of equipment, cables, connections and their configuration and technical specifications. The valuable information kept in this MySQL database enables some tools to automatically create and configure Tango devices and other software components of the control systems of Accelerators, beamlines and laboratories. This paper describes the process involved in this automatic setup

CUB DI (Deionization) column control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seino, K.C.

1999-01-01

For the old MR (Main Ring), deionization was done with two columns in CUB, using an ion exchange process. Typically 65 GPM of LCW flew through a column, and the resistivity was raised from 3 Mohm-cm to over 12 Mohm-cm. After a few weeks, columns lost their effectiveness and had to be regenerated in a process involving backwashing and adding hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. For normal MR operations, LCW returned from the ring and passed through the two columns in parallel for deionization, although the system could have been operated satisfactorily with only one in use. A 3000 gallon reservoir (the Spheres) provided a reserve of LCW for allowing water leaks and expansions in the MR. During the MI (Main Injector) construction period, the third DI column was added to satisfy requirements for the MI. When the third column was added, the old regeneration controller was replaced with a new controller based on an Allen-Bradley PLC (i.e., SLC-5/04). The PLC is widely used and well documented, and therefore it may allow us to modify the regeneration programs in the future. In addition to the above regeneration controller, the old control panels (which were used to manipulate pumps and valves to supply LCW in Normal mode and to do Int. Recir. (Internal Recirculation) and Makeup) were replaced with a new control system based on Sixtrak Gateway and I/O modules. For simplicity, the new regeneration controller is called as the US Filter system, and the new control system is called as the Fermilab system in this writing

A virtual reality system for the training of volunteers involved in health emergency situations.

Science.gov (United States)

De Leo, Gianluca; Ponder, Michal; Molet, Tom; Fato, Marco; Thalmann, Daniel; Magnenat-Thalmann, Nadia; Bermano, Francesco; Beltrame, Francesco

2003-06-01

In order to guarantee an effective and punctual medical intervention to injured people involved in health emergency situations, where usually both professional and non-professional health operators are involved, a fast and accurate treatment has to be carried out. In case of catastrophic or very critical situations, non-professional operators who did not receive proper training (volunteers are among them) could be affected by psychological inhibitions. Their performances could slow down in such way that would affect the quality of the treatment and increase both direct and indirect costs. Our virtual reality system that is currently in use at the health care emergency center of San Martino Hospital in Genoa, Italy, has been designed and developed to check health emergency operators' capabilities to adopt correct decision-making procedures, to make optimal use of new technological equipment and to overcome psychological barriers. Our system is composed of (1) a high-end simulation PC, whose main functions are execution of the main software module, rendering of 3D scenes in stereo mode, rendering of sound, and control of data transmission from/to VR devices; (2) a low-end control PC, which controls the VR simulation running on the simulation PC, manages medical emergency simulation scenarios, introduces unexpected events to the simulation and controls the simulation difficulty level; (3) a magnetic-based motion tracking device used for head and hand tracking; (4) a wireless pair of shutter glasses together with a cathode ray tube wall projector; and (5) a high-end surround sound system. The expected benefits have been verified through the design and implementation of controlled clinical trials.

Appetite-Controlling Endocrine Systems in Teleosts

Science.gov (United States)

Rønnestad, Ivar; Gomes, Ana S.; Murashita, Koji; Angotzi, Rita; Jönsson, Elisabeth; Volkoff, Hélène

2017-01-01

Mammalian studies have shaped our understanding of the endocrine control of appetite and body weight in vertebrates and provided the basic vertebrate model that involves central (brain) and peripheral signaling pathways as well as environmental cues. The hypothalamus has a crucial function in the control of food intake, but other parts of the brain are also involved. The description of a range of key neuropeptides and hormones as well as more details of their specific roles in appetite control continues to be in progress. Endocrine signals are based on hormones that can be divided into two groups: those that induce (orexigenic), and those that inhibit (anorexigenic) appetite and food consumption. Peripheral signals originate in the gastrointestinal tract, liver, adipose tissue, and other tissues and reach the hypothalamus through both endocrine and neuroendocrine actions. While many mammalian-like endocrine appetite-controlling networks and mechanisms have been described for some key model teleosts, mainly zebrafish and goldfish, very little knowledge exists on these systems in fishes as a group. Fishes represent over 30,000 species, and there is a large variability in their ecological niches and habitats as well as life history adaptations, transitions between life stages and feeding behaviors. In the context of food intake and appetite control, common adaptations to extended periods of starvation or periods of abundant food availability are of particular interest. This review summarizes the recent findings on endocrine appetite-controlling systems in fish, highlights their impact on growth and survival, and discusses the perspectives in this research field to shed light on the intriguing adaptations that exist in fish and their underlying mechanisms. PMID:28458653

Practical Loop-Shaping Design of Feedback Control Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kopasakis, George

2010-01-01

effectiveness of the control design in a methodical and quantifiable way. The emphasis is in generating simple but rather powerful design techniques that will allow even designers with a layman s knowledge in controls to develop effective feedback control designs. Unlike conventional ad hoc methodologies of feedback control design, in this approach actuator rates are incorporated into the design right from the start: The relation between actuator speeds and the desired control bandwidth of the system is established explicitly. The technique developed is demonstrated via design examples in a step-by-step tutorial way. Given the actuation system rates and range limits together with design specifications in terms of stability margins, disturbance rejection, and transient response, the procedure involves designing the feedback loop gain to meet the requirements and maximizing the control system effectiveness, without exceeding the actuation system limits and saturating the controller. Then knowing the plant transfer function, the procedure involves designing the controller so that the controller transfer function together with the plant transfer function equate to the designed loop gain. The technique also shows what the limitations of the controller design are and how to trade competing design requirements such as stability margins and disturbance rejection. Finally, the technique is contrasted against other more familiar control design techniques, like PID control, to show its advantages.

The frontoparietal control system: A central role in mental health

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Michael W.; Repovs, Grega; Anticevic, Alan

2014-01-01

Recent findings suggest the existence of a frontoparietal control system consisting of ‘flexible hubs’ that regulate distributed systems (e.g., visual, limbic, motor) according to current task goals. A growing number of studies are reporting alterations of this control system across a striking range of mental diseases. We suggest this may reflect a critical role for the control system in promoting and maintaining mental health. Specifically, we propose that this system implements feedback control to regulate symptoms as they arise (e.g., excessive anxiety reduced via regulation of amygdala), such that an intact control system is protective against a variety of mental illnesses. Consistent with this possibility, recent results indicate that several major mental illnesses involve altered brain-wide connectivity of the control system, likely altering its ability to regulate symptoms. These results suggest that this ‘immune system of the mind’ may be an especially important target for future basic and clinical research. PMID:24622818

Gene expression profiling following maternal deprivation: Involvement of the brain renin-angiotensin system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Liebl

2009-05-01

Full Text Available The postnatal development of the mouse is characterized by a stress hyporesponsive period (SHRP, where basal corticosterone levels are low and responsiveness to mild stressors is reduced. Maternal separation is able to disrupt the SHRP and is widely used to model early trauma. In this study we aimed at identifying of brain systems involved in acute and possible long-term effects of maternal separation. We conducted a microarray-based gene expression analysis in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus after maternal separation, which revealed 52 differentially regulated genes compared to undisturbed controls, among them are 37 up-regulated and 15 down-regulated genes. One of the prominently up-regulated genes, angiotensinogen, was validated using in-situ hybridization. Angiotensinogen is the precursor of angiotensin II, the main effector of the brain renin-angiotensin system (RAS, which is known to be involved in stress system modulation in adult animals. Using the selective angiotensin type I receptor (AT(1 antagonist candesartan we found strong effects on CRH and GR mRNA expression in the brain a nd ACTH release following maternal separation. AT(1 receptor blockade appears to enhance central effects of maternal separation in the neonate, suggesting a suppressing function of brain RAS during the SHRP. Taken together, our results illustrate the molecular adaptations that occur in the paraventricular nucleus following maternal separation and contribute to identifying signaling cascades that control stress system activity in the neonate.

Dynamics and control of mechanical systems in offshore engineering

CERN Document Server

He, Wei; How, Bernard Voon Ee; Choo, Yoo Sang

2014-01-01

Dynamics and Control of Mechanical Systems in Offshore Engineering is a comprehensive treatment of marine mechanical systems (MMS) involved in processes of great importance such as oil drilling and mineral recovery. Ranging from nonlinear dynamic modeling and stability analysis of flexible riser systems, through advanced control design for an installation system with a single rigid payload attached by thrusters, to robust adaptive control for mooring systems, it is an authoritative reference on the dynamics and control of MMS. Readers will gain not only a complete picture of MMS at the system level, but also a better understanding of the technical considerations involved and solutions to problems that commonly arise from dealing with them. The text provides:                                                                                                                                 ...

Illusion of control: the role of personal involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Yarritu, Ion; Matute, Helena; Vadillo, Miguel A

2014-01-01

The illusion of control consists of overestimating the influence that our behavior exerts over uncontrollable outcomes. Available evidence suggests that an important factor in development of this illusion is the personal involvement of participants who are trying to obtain the outcome. The dominant view assumes that this is due to social motivations and self-esteem protection. We propose that this may be due to a bias in contingency detection which occurs when the probability of the action (i.e., of the potential cause) is high. Indeed, personal involvement might have been often confounded with the probability of acting, as participants who are more involved tend to act more frequently than those for whom the outcome is irrelevant and therefore become mere observers. We tested these two variables separately. In two experiments, the outcome was always uncontrollable and we used a yoked design in which the participants of one condition were actively involved in obtaining it and the participants in the other condition observed the adventitious cause-effect pairs. The results support the latter approach: Those acting more often to obtain the outcome developed stronger illusions, and so did their yoked counterparts.

INFN-CNAF Monitor and Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonelli, Stefano; De Girolamo, Donato; Dell'Agnello, Luca; Gregori, Daniele; Guizzunti, Guido; Ricci, Pier Paolo; Rosso, Felice; Sapunenko, Vladimir; Veraldi, Riccardo; Veronesi, Paolo; Vistoli, Cristina; Finzi, Giulia Vita; Zani, Stefano

2011-01-01

CNAF is the national center of National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) for R and D in the field of Information Technologies applied to High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments. It is involved in the management and development of the most important information and data handling services in behalf of the INFN. In 2005, the Italian Tier-1 for Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments has been inaugurated at INFN-CNAF. Due to the huge complexity of Tier-1 center, the use of control systems is fundamental for management and operation of the center. At INFN-CNAF, several solutions have been adopted, from commercial to open source products up to entirely home-made systems. Adopted open source solutions have been strongly adapted to specific needs; a wide set of customized sensors has been developed for various divisions like Network, Storage, Farming, Grid operation and National Services. Finally, a dashboard has been developed, to which described control systems send critical alarms (sent via sms to an operator as well). The dashboard can be exploited to get an historical view of the Tier-1 and national services' state and to allow a quick web control. In this article, the whole system, adopted customizations in monitoring and control as well as their integrations with the dashboard will be described.

Involvement of Consumer Groups in Tobacco Control: Russia and Belarus Experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dmitry Yanin

2017-05-01

5. Cooperation of consumer organizations from Russia (KONFOP and Belarus (Belarus Consumer Society, launched to promote best Tobacco Control practices, according to FCTC provisions, is a success story of involvement of consumer groups in Tobacco Control.

Reliability Estimation for Digital Instrument/Control System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Yaguang; Sydnor, Russell [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. (United States)

2011-08-15

Digital instrumentation and controls (DI and C) systems are widely adopted in various industries because of their flexibility and ability to implement various functions that can be used to automatically monitor, analyze, and control complicated systems. It is anticipated that the DI and C will replace the traditional analog instrumentation and controls (AI and C) systems in all future nuclear reactor designs. There is an increasing interest for reliability and risk analyses for safety critical DI and C systems in regulatory organizations, such as The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Developing reliability models and reliability estimation methods for digital reactor control and protection systems will involve every part of the DI and C system, such as sensors, signal conditioning and processing components, transmission lines and digital communication systems, D/A and A/D converters, computer system, signal processing software, control and protection software, power supply system, and actuators. Some of these components are hardware, such as sensors and actuators, their failure mechanisms are well understood, and the traditional reliability model and estimation methods can be directly applied. But many of these components are firmware which has software embedded in the hardware, and software needs special consideration because its failure mechanism is unique, and the reliability estimation method for a software system will be different from the ones used for hardware systems. In this paper, we will propose a reliability estimation method for the entire DI and C system reliability using a recently developed software reliability estimation method and a traditional hardware reliability estimation method.

Reliability Estimation for Digital Instrument/Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Yaguang; Sydnor, Russell

2011-01-01

Digital instrumentation and controls (DI and C) systems are widely adopted in various industries because of their flexibility and ability to implement various functions that can be used to automatically monitor, analyze, and control complicated systems. It is anticipated that the DI and C will replace the traditional analog instrumentation and controls (AI and C) systems in all future nuclear reactor designs. There is an increasing interest for reliability and risk analyses for safety critical DI and C systems in regulatory organizations, such as The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Developing reliability models and reliability estimation methods for digital reactor control and protection systems will involve every part of the DI and C system, such as sensors, signal conditioning and processing components, transmission lines and digital communication systems, D/A and A/D converters, computer system, signal processing software, control and protection software, power supply system, and actuators. Some of these components are hardware, such as sensors and actuators, their failure mechanisms are well understood, and the traditional reliability model and estimation methods can be directly applied. But many of these components are firmware which has software embedded in the hardware, and software needs special consideration because its failure mechanism is unique, and the reliability estimation method for a software system will be different from the ones used for hardware systems. In this paper, we will propose a reliability estimation method for the entire DI and C system reliability using a recently developed software reliability estimation method and a traditional hardware reliability estimation method

The planned replacement of a functioning control system on the CERN 28 GEV accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carpenter, B.E.; Daneels, A.; Perriollat, F.

1979-01-01

The subject is discussed under the following headings: the accelerators (in the 28 GeV accelerator complex) and the old control system; goals of the new control system; constraints (involved in planning a replacement for the control system); a pilot project; major software issues in the system design; portability; parallelism; transition; conclusion. (U.K.)

Biochemical markers predictive for bone marrow involvement in systemic mastocytosis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Donker, Marjolein L.; van Doormaal, Jasper J.; van Doormaal, Frederiek F.; Kluin, Philip M.; van der Veer, Eveline; de Monchy, Jan G. R.; Kema, Ido P.; Kluin-Nelemans, Hanneke C.

Systemic mastocytosis is characterized by bone marrow involvement, which requires a bone marrow biopsy for diagnostic work-up. We questioned whether bone marrow involvement could be predicted using biochemical markers. We selected patients with various symptoms suggestive of indolent systemic

Involvement of purinergic system in inflammation and toxicity induced by copper in zebrafish larvae

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leite, Carlos Eduardo, E-mail: carlos.leite@pucrs.br [Instituto de Toxicologia e Farmacologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, CEP 90619-900 (Brazil); Programa de Pós-Graduação em Medicina: Ciências Médicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, CEP 90035-003 (Brazil); Maboni, Lucas de Oliveira [Instituto de Toxicologia e Farmacologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, CEP 90619-900 (Brazil); Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, CEP 90619-900 (Brazil); Cruz, Fernanda Fernandes [Instituto de Toxicologia e Farmacologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, CEP 90619-900 (Brazil); Faculdade de Farmácia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, CEP 90619-900 (Brazil); Rosemberg, Denis Broock [Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Comunitária da Região de Chapecó, Chapecó, CEP 89809-000 (Brazil); and others

2013-11-01

The use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) is increasing as an intermediate preclinical model, to prioritize drug candidates for mammalian testing. As the immune system of the zebrafish is quite similar to that of mammals, models of inflammation are being developed for the screening of new drugs. The characterization of these models is crucial for studies that seek for mechanisms of action and specific pharmacological targets. It is well known that copper is a metal that induces damage and cell migration to hair cells of lateral line of zebrafish. Extracellular nucleotides/nucleosides, as ATP and adenosine (ADO), act as endogenous signaling molecules during tissue damage by exerting effects on inflammatory and immune responses. The present study aimed to characterize the inflammatory status, and to investigate the involvement of the purinergic system in copper-induced inflammation in zebrafish larvae. Fishes of 7 days post-fertilization were exposed to 10 μM of copper for a period of 24 h. The grade of oxidative stress, inflammatory status, copper uptake, the activity and the gene expression of the enzymes responsible for controlling the levels of nucleotides and adenosine were evaluated. Due to the copper accumulation in zebrafish larvae tissues, the damage and oxidative stress were exacerbated over time, resulting in an inflammatory process involving IL-1β, TNF-α, COX-2 and PGE{sub 2}. Within the purinergic system, the mechanisms that control the ADO levels were the most involved, mainly the reactions performed by the isoenzyme ADA 2. In conclusion, our data shed new lights on the mechanisms related to copper-induced inflammation in zebrafish larvae. - Graphical abstract: This scheme provides a chronological proposition for the biochemical events induced by copper in zebrafish larvae. The dashed line shows the absorption of copper over the exposure time. After 1 h of exposure to copper, the release of PGE{sub 2} occurs, followed by an increase of MPO (as a consequence

Involvement of purinergic system in inflammation and toxicity induced by copper in zebrafish larvae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leite, Carlos Eduardo; Maboni, Lucas de Oliveira; Cruz, Fernanda Fernandes; Rosemberg, Denis Broock

2013-01-01

The use of zebrafish (Danio rerio) is increasing as an intermediate preclinical model, to prioritize drug candidates for mammalian testing. As the immune system of the zebrafish is quite similar to that of mammals, models of inflammation are being developed for the screening of new drugs. The characterization of these models is crucial for studies that seek for mechanisms of action and specific pharmacological targets. It is well known that copper is a metal that induces damage and cell migration to hair cells of lateral line of zebrafish. Extracellular nucleotides/nucleosides, as ATP and adenosine (ADO), act as endogenous signaling molecules during tissue damage by exerting effects on inflammatory and immune responses. The present study aimed to characterize the inflammatory status, and to investigate the involvement of the purinergic system in copper-induced inflammation in zebrafish larvae. Fishes of 7 days post-fertilization were exposed to 10 μM of copper for a period of 24 h. The grade of oxidative stress, inflammatory status, copper uptake, the activity and the gene expression of the enzymes responsible for controlling the levels of nucleotides and adenosine were evaluated. Due to the copper accumulation in zebrafish larvae tissues, the damage and oxidative stress were exacerbated over time, resulting in an inflammatory process involving IL-1β, TNF-α, COX-2 and PGE 2 . Within the purinergic system, the mechanisms that control the ADO levels were the most involved, mainly the reactions performed by the isoenzyme ADA 2. In conclusion, our data shed new lights on the mechanisms related to copper-induced inflammation in zebrafish larvae. - Graphical abstract: This scheme provides a chronological proposition for the biochemical events induced by copper in zebrafish larvae. The dashed line shows the absorption of copper over the exposure time. After 1 h of exposure to copper, the release of PGE 2 occurs, followed by an increase of MPO (as a consequence of

Concluding from operating experience to instrumentation and control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pleger, H.; Heinsohn, H.

1997-01-01

Where conclusions are drawn from operating experience to instrumentation and control systems, two general statements should be made. First: There have been braekdowns, there have also been deficiencies, but in principle operating experience with the instrumentation and control systems of German nuclear power plants has been good. With respect to the debates about the use of modern digital instrumentation and control systems it is safe to say, secondly, that the instrumentation and control systems currently in use are working reliably. Hence, there is no need at present to replace existing systems for reasons of technical safety. However, that time will come. It is a good thing, therefore, that the use of modern digital instrumentation and control systems is to begin in the field of limiting devices. The operating experience which will thus be accumulated will benefit digital instrumentation and control systems in their qualification process for more demanding applications. This makes proper logging of operating experience an important function, even if it cannot be transferred in every respect. All parties involved therefore should see to it that this operating experience is collected in accordance with criteria agreed upon so as to prevent unwanted surprises later on. (orig.) [de

Lung involvement in systemic connective tissue diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Plavec Goran

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Background/Aim. Systemic connective tissue diseases (SCTD are chronic inflammatory autoimmune disorders of unknown cause that can involve different organs and systems. Their course and prognosis are different. All of them can, more or less, involve the respiratory system. The aim of this study was to find out the frequency of respiratory symptoms, lung function disorders, radiography and high-resolution computerized tomography (HRCT abnormalities, and their correlation with the duration of the disease and the applied treatment. Methods. In 47 non-randomized consecutive patients standard chest radiography, HRCT, and lung function tests were done. Results. Hypoxemia was present in nine of the patients with respiratory symptoms (20%. In all of them chest radiography was normal. In five of these patients lung fibrosis was established using HRCT. Half of all the patients with SCTD had symptoms of lung involvement. Lung function tests disorders of various degrees were found in 40% of the patients. The outcome and the degree of lung function disorders were neither in correlation with the duration of SCTD nor with therapy used (p > 0.05 Spearmans Ro. Conclusion. Pulmonary fibrosis occurs in about 10% of the patients with SCTD, and possibly not due to the applied treatment regimens. Hypoxemia could be a sing of existing pulmonary fibrosis in the absence of disorders on standard chest radiography.

Cost-effective control systems for solar heating and cooling applications. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pejsa, J. H.; Bassett, W. W.; Wenzler, S. A.; Nguyen, K. H.; Olson, T. J.

1978-09-01

A methodology has been defined to arrive at control recommendations for a variety of climate control system designs, applications and regions, and the results are presented in two parts. Part I consists of a literature and market-place survey, involving control strategies, functions, sensors, actuators, and the controllers themselves. Part II represents the bulk of the study effort - an attempt to simulate and evaluate system performance for several representative residential and commercial heating and cooling designs and thus to derive improved performance techniques within cost-effective control systems. (MHR)

Mechanization of and experience with a triplex fly-by-wire backup control system

Science.gov (United States)

Lock, W. P.; Petersen, W. R.; Whitman, G. B.

1976-01-01

A redundant three axis analog control system was designed and developed to back up a digital fly by wire control system for an F-8C airplane. The mechanization and operational experience with the backup control system, the problems involved in synchronizing it with the primary system, and the reliability of the system are discussed. The backup control system was dissimilar to the primary system, and it provided satisfactory handling through the flight envelope evaluated. Limited flight tests of a variety of control tasks showed that control was also satisfactory when the backup control system was controlled by a minimum displacement (force) side stick. The operational reliability of the F-8 digital fly by wire control system was satisfactory, with no unintentional downmodes to the backup control system in flight. The ground and flight reliability of the system's components is discussed.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis involving central nervous system: a case report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moon, Won Jin; Park, Dong Woo; Lee, Seung Ro; Hahm, Chang Kok; Ju, Kyung Bin [Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Sung Tae [Ulsan University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1997-01-01

Langerhans cell histiocytosis(LCH) is a systemic disorder characterized by idiopathic proliferation of histiocytes in the reticuloendothelial system; CNS involvement outside the hypothalamus or pituitary gland is uncommon. We present a case of LCH involving the brainstem, cerebellum, and temporal lobes, and also showing hypothalamic involvement. The lesions were isointense or hypointense on T1WI and hyperintense on T2WI, and showed multifocal enhancing nodules on post-contrast CT and Gd-enhanced MRI.

Modernization of control system using the digital control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrasco, J. A.; Fernandez, L.; Jimenez, A.

2002-01-01

Nowadays, all plant automation tendencies are based on the use of Digital Control System. In big industrial plants the control systems employed are Distributed Control Systems (DCS). The addition of these systems in nuclear power plants,implies an important adaptation process, because most of them were installed using analog control systems. This paper presents the objectives and the first results obtained, in a modernization project, focused in obtaining an engineering platform for making test and analysis of changes prior to their implementation in a nuclear plant. Modernization, Upgrade, DCS, Automation, Simulation, Training. (Author)

Control room systems design for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-07-01

This publication provides a resource for those who are involved in researching, managing, conceptualizing, designing, manufacturing or backfitting power plant control room systems. It will also be useful to those responsible for performing reviews or evaluations of the design and facilities associated with existing power plant control room systems. The ultimate worth of the publication, however, will depend upon how well it can support its users. Readers are invited to provide comments and observations to the IAEA, Division of Nuclear Power. If appropriate, the report will subsequently be re-issued, taking such feedback into account. Refs, figs and tabs

Control room systems design for nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-07-01

This publication provides a resource for those who are involved in researching, managing, conceptualizing, designing, manufacturing or backfitting power plant control room systems. It will also be useful to those responsible for performing reviews or evaluations of the design and facilities associated with existing power plant control room systems. The ultimate worth of the publication, however, will depend upon how well it can support its users. Readers are invited to provide comments and observations to the IAEA, Division of Nuclear Power. If appropriate, the report will subsequently be re-issued, taking such feedback into account. Refs, figs and tabs.

Decentralized control of a scalable photovoltaic (PV)-battery hybrid power system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Myungchin; Bae, Sungwoo

2017-01-01

Highlights: • This paper introduces the design and control of a PV-battery hybrid power system. • Reliable and scalable operation of hybrid power systems is achieved. • System and power control are performed without a centralized controller. • Reliability and scalability characteristics are studied in a quantitative manner. • The system control performance is verified using realistic solar irradiation data. - Abstract: This paper presents the design and control of a sustainable standalone photovoltaic (PV)-battery hybrid power system (HPS). The research aims to develop an approach that contributes to increased level of reliability and scalability for an HPS. To achieve such objectives, a PV-battery HPS with a passively connected battery was studied. A quantitative hardware reliability analysis was performed to assess the effect of energy storage configuration to the overall system reliability. Instead of requiring the feedback control information of load power through a centralized supervisory controller, the power flow in the proposed HPS is managed by a decentralized control approach that takes advantage of the system architecture. Reliable system operation of an HPS is achieved through the proposed control approach by not requiring a separate supervisory controller. Furthermore, performance degradation of energy storage can be prevented by selecting the controller gains such that the charge rate does not exceed operational requirements. The performance of the proposed system architecture with the control strategy was verified by simulation results using realistic irradiance data and a battery model in which its temperature effect was considered. With an objective to support scalable operation, details on how the proposed design could be applied were also studied so that the HPS could satisfy potential system growth requirements. Such scalability was verified by simulating various cases that involve connection and disconnection of sources and loads. The

A Symbolic Computation Approach to Parameterizing Controller for Polynomial Hamiltonian Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhong Cao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers controller parameterization method of H∞ control for polynomial Hamiltonian systems (PHSs, which involves internal stability and external disturbance attenuation. The aims of this paper are to design a controller with parameters to insure that the systems are H∞ stable and propose an algorithm for solving parameters of the controller with symbolic computation. The proposed parameterization method avoids solving Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equations, and thus the obtained controllers with parameters are relatively simple in form and easy in operation. Simulation with a numerical example shows that the controller is effective as it can optimize H∞ control by adjusting parameters. All these results are expected to be of use in the study of H∞ control for nonlinear systems with perturbations.

Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control Systems Technologies Technical Program Plan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bruce Hallbert

2012-09-01

Reliable instrumentation, information, and control (II&C) systems technologies are essential to ensuring safe and efficient operation of the U.S. light water reactor (LWR) fleet. These technologies affect every aspect of nuclear power plant (NPP) and balance-of-plant operations. In 1997, the National Research Council conducted a study concerning the challenges involved in modernization of digital instrumentation and control systems in NPPs. Their findings identified the need for new II&C technology integration.

The system architecture of the new JET Shape Controller

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sartori, F.; Ambrosino, G.; Ariola, M.; Cenedese, A.; Crisanti, F.; Tommasi, G. De; Cullen, P. Mc; Piccolo, F.; Pironti, A.

2005-01-01

This paper describes the installation of the new JET Shape Controller System [M. Garribba, R. Litunovsky, P. Noll, S. Puppin, The new control scheme for the JET plasma position and current control system, in: Proceedings of the 15th SOFE Conference, Massachusetts, 1993, pp. 33-36; F. Sartori, A. Cenedese, Plasma position and current control management at JET, in: Proceedings of the 42nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Maui, 2003] especially focusing on the addition of the Extreme Shape Controller [G. Ambrosino, et al., A new shape controller for extremely shaped plasmas in JET, Fusion Eng. Des. 66-68 (2003) 797-802]. The activity was performed by the JET Operator in co-operation with the ENEA-CREATE design team, and involved both changes in the hardware and system software of JET and tuning of the proposed Extreme Shape Controller (XSC) design to satisfy the practical requirements of tokamak operation. The application of 10 years experience of controller implementation and commissioning combined with a modern and efficient modelling and design methodology has allowed an unprecedented fast and easy commissioning of the new system

An Indoor Location-Based Control System Using Bluetooth Beacons for IoT Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Huh, Jun-Ho; Seo, Kyungryong

2017-12-19

The indoor location-based control system estimates the indoor position of a user to provide the service he/she requires. The major elements involved in the system are the localization server, service-provision client, user application positioning technology. The localization server controls access of terminal devices (e.g., Smart Phones and other wireless devices) to determine their locations within a specified space first and then the service-provision client initiates required services such as indoor navigation and monitoring/surveillance. The user application provides necessary data to let the server to localize the devices or allow the user to receive various services from the client. The major technological elements involved in this system are indoor space partition method, Bluetooth 4.0, RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) and trilateration. The system also employs the BLE communication technology when determining the position of the user in an indoor space. The position information obtained is then used to control a specific device(s). These technologies are fundamental in achieving a "Smart Living". An indoor location-based control system that provides services by estimating user's indoor locations has been implemented in this study (First scenario). The algorithm introduced in this study (Second scenario) is effective in extracting valid samples from the RSSI dataset but has it has some drawbacks as well. Although we used a range-average algorithm that measures the shortest distance, there are some limitations because the measurement results depend on the sample size and the sample efficiency depends on sampling speeds and environmental changes. However, the Bluetooth system can be implemented at a relatively low cost so that once the problem of precision is solved, it can be applied to various fields.

An Indoor Location-Based Control System Using Bluetooth Beacons for IoT Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun-Ho Huh

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The indoor location-based control system estimates the indoor position of a user to provide the service he/she requires. The major elements involved in the system are the localization server, service-provision client, user application positioning technology. The localization server controls access of terminal devices (e.g., Smart Phones and other wireless devices to determine their locations within a specified space first and then the service-provision client initiates required services such as indoor navigation and monitoring/surveillance. The user application provides necessary data to let the server to localize the devices or allow the user to receive various services from the client. The major technological elements involved in this system are indoor space partition method, Bluetooth 4.0, RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication and trilateration. The system also employs the BLE communication technology when determining the position of the user in an indoor space. The position information obtained is then used to control a specific device(s. These technologies are fundamental in achieving a “Smart Living”. An indoor location-based control system that provides services by estimating user’s indoor locations has been implemented in this study (First scenario. The algorithm introduced in this study (Second scenario is effective in extracting valid samples from the RSSI dataset but has it has some drawbacks as well. Although we used a range-average algorithm that measures the shortest distance, there are some limitations because the measurement results depend on the sample size and the sample efficiency depends on sampling speeds and environmental changes. However, the Bluetooth system can be implemented at a relatively low cost so that once the problem of precision is solved, it can be applied to various fields.

Master Console System Monitoring and Control Development

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, Russell A.

2013-01-01

The Master Console internship during the spring of 2013 involved the development of firing room displays at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). This position was with the Master Console Product Group (MCPG) on the Launch Control System (LCS) project. This project is responsible for the System Monitoring and Control (SMC) and Record and Retrieval (R&R) of launch operations data. The Master Console is responsible for: loading the correct software into each of the remaining consoles in the firing room, connecting the proper data paths to and from the launch vehicle and all ground support equipment, and initializing the entire firing room system to begin processing. During my internship, I developed a system health and status display for use by Master Console Operators (MCO) to monitor and verify the integrity of the servers, gateways, network switches, and firewalls used in the firing room.

Modeling and simulation of control system for electron beam machine (EBM) using programmable automation controller (PAC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leo Kwee Wah; Lojius Lombigit; Abu Bakar Mhd Ghazali; Muhamad Zahidee Taat; Ayub Mohamed; Chong Foh Yoong

2006-01-01

An EBM electronic model is designed to simulate the control system of the Nissin EBM, which is located at Block 43, MINT complex of Jalan Dengkil with maximum output of 3 MeV, 30 mA using a Programmable Automation Controllers (PAC). This model operates likes a real EBM system where all the start-up, interlocking and stopping procedures are fully followed. It also involves formulating the mathematical models to relate certain output with the input parameters using data from actual operation on EB machine. The simulation involves a set of PAC system consisting of the digital and analogue input/output modules. The program code is written using Labview software (real-time version) on a PC and then downloaded into the PAC stand-alone memory. All the 23 interlocking signals required by the EB machine are manually controlled by mechanical switches and represented by LEDs. The EB parameters are manually controlled by potentiometers and displayed on analogue and digital meters. All these signals are then interfaced to the PC via a wifi wireless communication built-in at the PAC controller. The program is developed in accordance to the specifications and requirement of the original real EB system and displays them on the panel of the model and also on the PC monitor. All possible chances from human errors, hardware and software malfunctions, including the worst-case conditions will be tested, evaluated and modified. We hope that the performance of our model complies the requirements of operating the EB machine. It also hopes that this electronic model can replace the original PC interfacing being utilized in the Nissin EBM in the near future. The system can also be used to study the fault tolerance analysis and automatic re-configuration for advanced control of the EB system. (Author)

The ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector Control and Calibration Systems

CERN Document Server

Calì, Ivan Amos; Manzari, Vito; Stefanini, Giorgio

2008-01-01

The work presented in this thesis was carried out in the Silicon Pixel Detector (SPD) group of the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The SPD is the innermost part (two cylindrical layers of silicon pixel detec- tors) of the ALICE Inner Tracking System (ITS). During the last three years I have been strongly involved in the SPD hardware and software development, construction and commissioning. This thesis is focused on the design, development and commissioning of the SPD Control and Calibration Systems. I started this project from scratch. After a prototyping phase now a stable version of the control and calibration systems is operative. These systems allowed the detector sectors and half-barrels test, integration and commissioning as well as the SPD commissioning in the experiment. The integration of the systems with the ALICE Experiment Control System (ECS), DAQ and Trigger system has been accomplished and the SPD participated in the experimental December 2007 commissioning run. The complex...

Database application research in real-time data access of accelerator control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Guanghua; Chen Jianfeng; Wan Tianmin

2012-01-01

The control system of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) is a large-scale distributed real-time control system, It involves many types and large amounts of real-time data access during the operating. Database system has wide application prospects in the large-scale accelerator control system. It is the future development direction of the accelerator control system, to replace the differently dedicated data structures with the mature standardized database system. This article discusses the application feasibility of database system in accelerators based on the database interface technology, real-time data access testing, and system optimization research and to establish the foundation of the wide scale application of database system in the SSRF accelerator control system. Based on the database interface technology, real-time data access testing and system optimization research, this article will introduce the application feasibility of database system in accelerators, and lay the foundation of database system application in the SSRF accelerator control system. (authors)

Postural control and central motor pathway involvement in type 2 ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mona Mokhtar El Bardawil

2013-04-18

Apr 18, 2013 ... Postural control and central motor pathway involvement in type 2 .... with a high power 90 mm circular coil, capable of generating. 2 T maximum field ..... advanced glycation end products, oxidative damage and microvascular ...

Private Practitioners’ Perspectives on Their Involvement With the Tuberculosis Control Programme in a Southern Indian State

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Solomon Salve

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background Public and private health sectors both play a crucial role in the health systems of low- and middleincome countries (LMICs. The tuberculosis (TB control strategy in India encourages the public sector to actively partner with private practitioners (PPs to improve the quality of front line service delivery. However, ensuring effective and sustainable involvement of PPs constitutes a major challenge. This paper reports the findings from an empirical study focusing on the perspectives and experiences of PPs towards their involvement in TB control programme in India. Methods The study was carried out between November 2010 and December 2011 in a district of a Southern Indian State and utilised qualitative methodologies, combining observations and in-depth interviews with 21 PPs from different medical systems. The collected data was coded and analysed using thematic analysis. Results PPs perceived themselves to be crucial healthcare providers, with different roles within the public-private mix (PPM TB policy. Despite this, PPs felt neglected and undervalued in the actual process of implementation of the PPM-TB policy. The entire process was considered to be government driven and their professional skills and knowledge of different medical systems remained unrecognised at the policy level, and weakened their relationship and bond with the policy and with the programme. PPs had contrasting perceptions about the different components of the TB programme that demonstrated the public sector’s dominance in the overall implementation of the DOTS strategy. Although PPs felt responsible for their TB patients, they found it difficult to perceive themselves as ‘partners with the TB programme.’ Conclusion Public-private partnerships (PPPs are increasingly utilized as a public health strategy to strengthen health systems. These policies will fail if the concerns of the PPs are neglected. To ensure their long-term involvement in the programme the

A novel capacity controller for a three-evaporator air conditioning (TEAC) system for improved indoor humidity control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Huaxia; Deng, Shiming; Chan, Ming-yin

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A novel capacity controller for TEAC systems for improved indoor humidity control is developed. • The novel controller was developed by integrating two previous control algorithms. • Experimental controllability tests were carried out. • Improved control over indoor humidity levels and higher energy efficiency can be achieved. - Abstract: Using a multi-evaporator air conditioning (MEAC) system to correctly control indoor air temperatures only in a multi-room application is already a challenging and difficult task, let alone the control of both indoor air temperature and humidity. This is because in an MEAC system, a number of indoor units are connected to a common condensing unit. Hence, the interferences among operation parameters of different indoor units would make the desired control of an MEAC system hard to realize. Limited capacity control algorithms for MEAC systems have been developed, with most of them focusing only on the control of indoor air temperature, and no previous studies involving control of indoor air humidity using MEAC systems can be identified. In this paper, the development of a novel capacity controller for a three-evaporator air conditioning (TEAC) system for improved indoor air humidity control is reported. The novel controller was developed by integrating two previous control algorithms for a dual-evaporator air conditioning system for temperature control and for a single-evaporator air conditioning system for improved indoor humidity control. Experimental controllability tests were carried out and the controllability test results showed that, with the novel controller, improved control over indoor humidity levels and better energy efficiency for a TEAC system could be obtained as compared to the traditional On–Off controllers extensively used by MEAC systems.

Controlled drug delivery systems towards new frontiers in patient care

CERN Document Server

Rossi, Filippo; Masi, Maurizio

2016-01-01

This book offers a state-of-the-art overview of controlled drug delivery systems, covering the most important innovative applications. The principles of controlled drug release and the mechanisms involved in controlled release are clearly explained. The various existing polymeric drug delivery systems are reviewed, and new frontiers in material design are examined in detail, covering a wide range of polymer modification techniques. The concluding chapter is a case study focusing on use of a drug-eluting stent. The book is designed to provide the reader with a complete understanding of the mechanisms and design of controlled drug delivery systems, and to this end includes numerous step-by-step tutorials. It illustrates how chemical engineers can advance medical care by designing polymeric delivery systems that achieve either temporal or spatial control of drug delivery and thus ensure more effective therapy that eliminates the potential for both under-and overdosing.

Automated hazard analysis of digital control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garrett, Chris J.; Apostolakis, George E.

2002-01-01

Digital instrumentation and control (I and C) systems can provide important benefits in many safety-critical applications, but they can also introduce potential new failure modes that can affect safety. Unlike electro-mechanical systems, whose failure modes are fairly well understood and which can often be built to fail in a particular way, software errors are very unpredictable. There is virtually no nontrivial software that will function as expected under all conditions. Consequently, there is a great deal of concern about whether there is a sufficient basis on which to resolve questions about safety. In this paper, an approach for validating the safety requirements of digital I and C systems is developed which uses the Dynamic Flowgraph Methodology to conduct automated hazard analyses. The prime implicants of these analyses can be used to identify unknown system hazards, prioritize the disposition of known system hazards, and guide lower-level design decisions to either eliminate or mitigate known hazards. In a case study involving a space-based reactor control system, the method succeeded in identifying an unknown failure mechanism

Neurotransmitter systems and neurotrophic factors in autism: association study of 37 genes suggests involvement of DDC.

Science.gov (United States)

Toma, Claudio; Hervás, Amaia; Balmaña, Noemí; Salgado, Marta; Maristany, Marta; Vilella, Elisabet; Aguilera, Francisco; Orejuela, Carmen; Cuscó, Ivon; Gallastegui, Fátima; Pérez-Jurado, Luis Alberto; Caballero-Andaluz, Rafaela; Diego-Otero, Yolanda de; Guzmán-Alvarez, Guadalupe; Ramos-Quiroga, Josep Antoni; Ribasés, Marta; Bayés, Mònica; Cormand, Bru

2013-09-01

Neurotransmitter systems and neurotrophic factors can be considered strong candidates for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The serotoninergic and dopaminergic systems are involved in neurotransmission, brain maturation and cortical organization, while neurotrophic factors (NTFs) participate in neurodevelopment, neuronal survival and synapses formation. We aimed to test the contribution of these candidate pathways to autism through a case-control association study of genes selected both for their role in central nervous system functions and for pathophysiological evidences. The study sample consisted of 326 unrelated autistic patients and 350 gender-matched controls from Spain. We genotyped 369 tagSNPs to perform a case-control association study of 37 candidate genes. A significant association was obtained between the DDC gene and autism in the single-marker analysis (rs6592961, P = 0.00047). Haplotype-based analysis pinpointed a four-marker combination in this gene associated with the disorder (rs2329340C-rs2044859T-rs6592961A-rs11761683T, P = 4.988e-05). No significant results were obtained for the remaining genes after applying multiple testing corrections. However, the rs167771 marker in DRD3, associated with ASD in a previous study, displayed a nominal association in our analysis (P = 0.023). Our data suggest that common allelic variants in the DDC gene may be involved in autism susceptibility.

NetCDF based data archiving system applied to ITER Fast Plant System Control prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castro, R.; Vega, J.; Ruiz, M.; De Arcas, G.; Barrera, E.; López, J.M.; Sanz, D.; Gonçalves, B.; Santos, B.; Utzel, N.; Makijarvi, P.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Implementation of a data archiving solution for a Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) for ITER CODAC. ► Data archiving solution based on scientific NetCDF-4 file format and Lustre storage clustering. ► EPICS control based solution. ► Tests results and detailed analysis of using NetCDF-4 and clustering technologies on fast acquisition data archiving. - Abstract: EURATOM/CIEMAT and Technical University of Madrid (UPM) have been involved in the development of a FPSC (Fast Plant System Control) prototype for ITER, based on PXIe (PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation). One of the main focuses of this project has been data acquisition and all the related issues, including scientific data archiving. Additionally, a new data archiving solution has been developed to demonstrate the obtainable performances and possible bottlenecks of scientific data archiving in Fast Plant System Control. The presented system implements a fault tolerant architecture over a GEthernet network where FPSC data are reliably archived on remote, while remaining accessible to be redistributed, within the duration of a pulse. The storing service is supported by a clustering solution to guaranty scalability, so that FPSC management and configuration may be simplified, and a unique view of all archived data provided. All the involved components have been integrated under EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System), implementing in each case the necessary extensions, state machines and configuration process variables. The prototyped solution is based on the NetCDF-4 (Network Common Data Format) file format in order to incorporate important features, such as scientific data models support, huge size files management, platform independent codification, or single-writer/multiple-readers concurrency. In this contribution, a complete description of the above mentioned solution is presented, together with the most relevant results of the tests performed, while focusing in the

A modular control architecture for real-time synchronous and asynchronous systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butler, P.L.; Jones, J.P.

1993-01-01

This paper describes a control architecture for real-time control of complex robotic systems. The Modular Integrated Control Architecture (MICA), which is actually two complementary control systems, recognizes and exploits the differences between asynchronous and synchronous control. The asynchronous control system simulates shared memory on a heterogeneous network. For control information, a portable event-scheme is used. This scheme provides consistent interprocess coordination among multiple tasks on a number of distributed systems. The machines in the network can vary with respect to their native operating systems and the intemal representation of numbers they use. The synchronous control system is needed for tight real-time control of complex electromechanical systems such as robot manipulators, and the system uses multiple processors at a specified rate. Both the synchronous and asynchronous portions of MICA have been developed to be extremely modular. MICA presents a simple programming model to code developers and also considers the needs of system integrators and maintainers. MICA has been used successfully in a complex robotics project involving a mobile 7-degree-of-freedom manipulator in a heterogeneous network with a body of software totaling over 100,000 lines of code. MICA has also been used in another robotics system, controlling a commercial long-reach manipulator

Parental involvement and academic performance: Less control and more communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Alonso, Rubén; Álvarez-Díaz, Marcos; Woitschach, Pamela; Suárez-Álvarez, Javier; Cuesta, Marcelino

2017-11-01

Parental involvement in the educational process is desirable, although more involvement does not guarantee better results. The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between styles of parental involvement at home and academic performance. A random sample of 26,543 Spanish students was used, with a mean age of 14.4 (SD = 0.75). Two thirds (66.2%) attended a publicly funded school; 49.7% were girls; 87.8% had Spanish nationality; and 73.5% were in the school year corresponding to their age. Different three-level hierarchical-linear models were fitted: student, school, and region (autonomous community). Students whose parents exhibited a more distal or indirect profile of family involvement tended to demonstrate better results than those from homes with a more controlling style. Parental involvement styles have an effect on achievement at an individual and school level, even after accounting for the effect of context or background variables. Given the importance of parental involvement in academic performance, schools should consider it in their family information and training policies. Schools which have more communicative family profiles tend to demonstrate lower levels of intra-school differences in students’ academic performance.

Formulation of a strategy for monitoring control integrity in critical digital control systems

Science.gov (United States)

Belcastro, Celeste M.; Fischl, Robert; Kam, Moshe

1991-01-01

Advanced aircraft will require flight critical computer systems for stability augmentation as well as guidance and control that must perform reliably in adverse, as well as nominal, operating environments. Digital system upset is a functional error mode that can occur in electromagnetically harsh environments, involves no component damage, can occur simultaneously in all channels of a redundant control computer, and is software dependent. A strategy is presented for dynamic upset detection to be used in the evaluation of critical digital controllers during the design and/or validation phases of development. Critical controllers must be able to be used in adverse environments that result from disturbances caused by an electromagnetic source such as lightning, high intensity radiated field (HIRF), and nuclear electromagnetic pulses (NEMP). The upset detection strategy presented provides dynamic monitoring of a given control computer for degraded functional integrity that can result from redundancy management errors and control command calculation error that could occur in an electromagnetically harsh operating environment. The use is discussed of Kalman filtering, data fusion, and decision theory in monitoring a given digital controller for control calculation errors, redundancy management errors, and control effectiveness.

Phase transitions in distributed control systems with multiplicative noise

Science.gov (United States)

Allegra, Nicolas; Bamieh, Bassam; Mitra, Partha; Sire, Clément

2018-01-01

Contemporary technological challenges often involve many degrees of freedom in a distributed or networked setting. Three aspects are notable: the variables are usually associated with the nodes of a graph with limited communication resources, hindering centralized control; the communication is subject to noise; and the number of variables can be very large. These three aspects make tools and techniques from statistical physics particularly suitable for the performance analysis of such networked systems in the limit of many variables (analogous to the thermodynamic limit in statistical physics). Perhaps not surprisingly, phase-transition like phenomena appear in these systems, where a sharp change in performance can be observed with a smooth parameter variation, with the change becoming discontinuous or singular in the limit of infinite system size. In this paper, we analyze the so called network consensus problem, prototypical of the above considerations, that has previously been analyzed mostly in the context of additive noise. We show that qualitatively new phase-transition like phenomena appear for this problem in the presence of multiplicative noise. Depending on dimensions, and on the presence or absence of a conservation law, the system performance shows a discontinuous change at a threshold value of the multiplicative noise strength. In the absence of the conservation law, and for graph spectral dimension less than two, the multiplicative noise threshold (the stability margin of the control problem) is zero. This is reminiscent of the absence of robust controllers for certain classes of centralized control problems. Although our study involves a ‘toy’ model, we believe that the qualitative features are generic, with implications for the robust stability of distributed control systems, as well as the effect of roundoff errors and communication noise on distributed algorithms.

Integrated Application of Active Controls (IAAC) technology to an advanced subsonic transport project: Current and advanced act control system definition study. Volume 2: Appendices

Science.gov (United States)

Hanks, G. W.; Shomber, H. A.; Dethman, H. A.; Gratzer, L. B.; Maeshiro, A.; Gangsaas, D.; Blight, J. D.; Buchan, S. M.; Crumb, C. B.; Dorwart, R. J.

1981-01-01

The current status of the Active Controls Technology (ACT) for the advanced subsonic transport project is investigated through analysis of the systems technical data. Control systems technologies under examination include computerized reliability analysis, pitch axis fly by wire actuator, flaperon actuation system design trade study, control law synthesis and analysis, flutter mode control and gust load alleviation analysis, and implementation of alternative ACT systems. Extensive analysis of the computer techniques involved in each system is included.

Fault tolerant control of systems with saturations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niemann, Hans Henrik

2013-01-01

This paper presents framework for fault tolerant controllers (FTC) that includes input saturation. The controller architecture known from FTC is based on the Youla-Jabr-Bongiorno-Kucera (YJBK) parameterization is extended to handle input saturation. Applying this controller architecture in connec......This paper presents framework for fault tolerant controllers (FTC) that includes input saturation. The controller architecture known from FTC is based on the Youla-Jabr-Bongiorno-Kucera (YJBK) parameterization is extended to handle input saturation. Applying this controller architecture...... in connection with faulty systems including input saturation gives an additional YJBK transfer function related to the input saturation. In the fault free case, this additional YJBK transfer function can be applied directly for optimizing the feedback loop around the input saturation. In the faulty case......, the design problem is a mixed design problem involved both parametric faults and input saturation....

Systemic involvement in localized scleroderma/morphea.

Science.gov (United States)

Gorkiewicz-Petkow, Anna; Kalinska-Bienias, Agnieszka

2015-01-01

Localized scleroderma (LoSc), also known as morphea, is a rare fibrosing disorder of the skin and underlying tissues. Sclerosis is mainly limited to the skin, but subcutaneous tissue, fascia, and underlying muscles and bone may also be involved. In some cases, systemic manifestation with visceral abnormalities may occur. Several publications have focused on significant aspects of LoSc: genetics, immunity, epidemiology, scoring systems, and unification of classifications. Clinical studies featuring large cohorts with the disease published by various international study groups have been of great value in furthering the diagnostic and therapeutic management of LoSc. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Robust H(infinity) tracking control of boiler-turbine systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, J; Nguang, S K; Shen, J; Liu, G; Li, Y G

2010-07-01

In this paper, the problem of designing a fuzzy H(infinity) state feedback tracking control of a boiler-turbine is solved. First, the Takagi and Sugeno fuzzy model is used to model a boiler-turbine system. Next, based on the Takagi and Sugeno fuzzy model, sufficient conditions for the existence of a fuzzy H(infinity) nonlinear state feedback tracking control are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The advantage of the proposed tracking control design is that it does not involve feedback linearization technique and complicated adaptive scheme. An industrial boiler-turbine system is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design as compared with a linearized approach. 2010 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Maximum Principle for General Controlled Systems Driven by Fractional Brownian Motions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Yuecai; Hu Yaozhong; Song Jian

2013-01-01

We obtain a maximum principle for stochastic control problem of general controlled stochastic differential systems driven by fractional Brownian motions (of Hurst parameter H>1/2). This maximum principle specifies a system of equations that the optimal control must satisfy (necessary condition for the optimal control). This system of equations consists of a backward stochastic differential equation driven by both fractional Brownian motions and the corresponding underlying standard Brownian motions. In addition to this backward equation, the maximum principle also involves the Malliavin derivatives. Our approach is to use conditioning and Malliavin calculus. To arrive at our maximum principle we need to develop some new results of stochastic analysis of the controlled systems driven by fractional Brownian motions via fractional calculus. Our approach of conditioning and Malliavin calculus is also applied to classical system driven by standard Brownian motions while the controller has only partial information. As a straightforward consequence, the classical maximum principle is also deduced in this more natural and simpler way.

System-wide hybrid MPC-PID control of a continuous pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing process via direct compaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Ravendra; Ierapetritou, Marianthi; Ramachandran, Rohit

2013-11-01

The next generation of QbD based pharmaceutical products will be manufactured through continuous processing. This will allow the integration of online/inline monitoring tools, coupled with an efficient advanced model-based feedback control systems, to achieve precise control of process variables, so that the predefined product quality can be achieved consistently. The direct compaction process considered in this study is highly interactive and involves time delays for a number of process variables due to sensor placements, process equipment dimensions, and the flow characteristics of the solid material. A simple feedback regulatory control system (e.g., PI(D)) by itself may not be sufficient to achieve the tight process control that is mandated by regulatory authorities. The process presented herein comprises of coupled dynamics involving slow and fast responses, indicating the requirement of a hybrid control scheme such as a combined MPC-PID control scheme. In this manuscript, an efficient system-wide hybrid control strategy for an integrated continuous pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing process via direct compaction has been designed. The designed control system is a hybrid scheme of MPC-PID control. An effective controller parameter tuning strategy involving an ITAE method coupled with an optimization strategy has been used for tuning of both MPC and PID parameters. The designed hybrid control system has been implemented in a first-principles model-based flowsheet that was simulated in gPROMS (Process System Enterprise). Results demonstrate enhanced performance of critical quality attributes (CQAs) under the hybrid control scheme compared to only PID or MPC control schemes, illustrating the potential of a hybrid control scheme in improving pharmaceutical manufacturing operations. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Innovative control systems for tracked vehicle platforms

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

 This book has been motivated by an urgent need for designing and implementation of innovative control algorithms and systems for tracked vehicles. Nowadays the unmanned vehicles are becoming more and more common. Therefore there is a need for innovative mechanical constructions capable of adapting to various applications regardless the ground, air or water/underwater environment. There are multiple various activities connected with tracked vehicles. They can be distributed among three main groups: design and control algorithms, sensoric and vision based in-formation, construction and testing mechanical parts of unmanned vehicles. Scientists and researchers involved in mechanics, control algorithms, image processing, computer vision, data fusion, or IC will find this book useful.

Integrated control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.J.

1991-01-01

This paper reports that instrument manufacturers must develop standard network interfaces to pull together interrelated systems such as automatic start-up, optimization programs, and online diagnostic systems. In the past individual control system manufacturers have developed their own data highways with proprietary hardware and software designs. In the future, electric utilities will require that future systems, irrespective of manufacturer, should be able to communicate with each other. Until now the manufactures of control systems have not agreed on the standard high-speed data highway system. Currently, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), in conjunction with several electric utilities and equipment manufactures, is working on developing a standard protocol for communicating between various manufacturers' control systems. According to N. Michael of Sargent and Lundy, future control room designs will require that more of the control and display functions be accessible from the control room through CRTs. There will be less emphasis on traditional hard-wired control panels

System analysis for material control and accountancy technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persiani, P.J.; Daly, T.A.; Bucher, R.G.; Rothman, A.B.; Cha, B.C.; Trevorrow, L.E.; Seefeldt, W.B.

1987-01-01

The systems analysis for material control and accountancy technology (SAMCAT) program involves a working group structured to ensure that direct operating measurements, accountancy experience, and knowledge of the processes and flows of nuclear material in the total US Department of Energy (DOE) complex of production fuel cycles would be the major bases for developing and implementing a plan of action. This working group consists of facility operators, DOE Office of Safeguards Security headquarters and field offices, and government laboratories. The program focus is to develop a system for decision support in validating the material control and accountancy (MC ampersand A) aspects of the masters safeguards and security agreements effectiveness and in evaluating proposed MC ampersand A upgrades. This paper is a status report on the current capabilities of the system

Cooperative control of multi-agent systems optimal and adaptive design approaches

CERN Document Server

Lewis, Frank L; Hengster-Movric, Kristian; Das, Abhijit

2014-01-01

Task complexity, communication constraints, flexibility and energy-saving concerns are all factors that may require a group of autonomous agents to work together in a cooperative manner. Applications involving such complications include mobile robots, wireless sensor networks, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), spacecraft, and so on. In such networked multi-agent scenarios, the restrictions imposed by the communication graph topology can pose severe problems in the design of cooperative feedback control systems.  Cooperative control of multi-agent systems is a challenging topic for both control theorists and practitioners and has been the subject of significant recent research. Cooperative Control of Multi-Agent Systems extends optimal control and adaptive control design methods to multi-agent systems on communication graphs.  It develops Riccati design techniques for general linear dynamics for cooperative state feedback design, cooperative observer design, and cooperative dynamic output feedback design.  B...

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

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2008-01-01

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

Reactor control system. PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

At present, 23 units of PWR type reactors have been operated in Japan since the start of Mihama Unit 1 operation in 1970 and various improvements have been made to upgrade operability of power stations as well as reliability and safety of power plants. As the share of nuclear power increases, further improvements of operating performance such as load following capability will be requested for power stations with more reliable and safer operation. This article outlined the reactor control system of PWR type reactors and described the control performance of power plants realized with those systems. The PWR control system is characterized that the turbine power is automatic or manually controlled with request of the electric power system and then the nuclear power is followingly controlled with the change of core reactivity. The system mainly consists of reactor automatic control system (control rod control system), pressurizer pressure control system, pressurizer water level control system, steam generator water level control system and turbine bypass control system. (T. Tanaka)

BSF control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irie, Y.; Ishii, K.; Ninomiya, S.; Sasaki, H.; Sakai, I.

1982-08-01

The booster synchrotron utilization facility (BSF) is a facility which utilizes the four fifths of available beam pulses from the KEK booster synchrotron. The BSF control system includes the beam line control, interactions with the PS central control room and the experimental facilities, and the access control system. A brief description of the various components in the control system is given. (author)

Functional connectivity profile of the human inferior frontal junction: involvement in a cognitive control network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sundermann Benedikt

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The human inferior frontal junction area (IFJ is critically involved in three main component processes of cognitive control (working memory, task switching and inhibitory control. As it overlaps with several areas in established anatomical labeling schemes, it is considered to be underreported as a functionally distinct location in the neuroimaging literature. While recent studies explicitly focused on the IFJ's anatomical organization and functional role as a single brain area, it is usually not explicitly denominated in studies on cognitive networks. However based on few analyses in small datasets constrained by specific a priori assumptions on its functional specialization, the IFJ has been postulated to be part of a cognitive control network. Goal of this meta-analysis was to establish the IFJ’s connectivity profile on a high formal level of evidence by aggregating published implicit knowledge about its co-activations. We applied meta-analytical connectivity modeling (MACM based on the activation likelihood estimation (ALE method without specific assumptions regarding functional specialization on 180 (reporting left IFJ activity and 131 (right IFJ published functional neuroimaging experiments derived from the BrainMap database. This method is based on coordinates in stereotaxic space, not on anatomical descriptors. Results The IFJ is significantly co-activated with areas in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, medial frontal gyrus / pre-SMA, posterior parietal cortex, occipitotemporal junction / cerebellum, thalamus and putamen as well as language and motor areas. Results are corroborated by an independent resting-state fMRI analysis. Conclusions These results support the assumption that the IFJ is part of a previously described cognitive control network. They also highlight the involvement of subcortical structures in this system. A direct line is drawn from works on the functional

Serum amyloid A is a marker for pulmonary involvement in systemic sclerosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katja Lakota

Full Text Available Inflammation in systemic sclerosis (SSc is a prominent, but incompletely characterized feature in early stages of the disease. The goal of these studies was to determine the circulating levels, clinical correlates and biological effects of the acute phase protein serum amyloid A (SAA, a marker of inflammation, in patients with SSc. Circulating levels of SAA were determined by multiplex assays in serum from 129 SSc patients and 98 healthy controls. Correlations between SAA levels and clinical and laboratory features of disease were analyzed. The effects of SAA on human pulmonary fibroblasts were studied ex vivo. Elevated levels of SAA were found in 25% of SSc patients, with the highest levels in those with early-stage disease and diffuse cutaneous involvement. Significant negative correlations of SAA were found with forced vital capacity and diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide. Patients with elevated SAA had greater dyspnea and more frequent interstitial lung disease, and had worse scores on patient-reported outcome measures. Incubation with recombinant SAA induced dose-dependent stimulation of IL-6 and IL-8 in normal lung fibroblasts in culture. Serum levels of the inflammatory marker SAA are elevated in patients with early diffuse cutaneous SSc, and correlate with pulmonary involvement. In lung fibroblasts, SAA acts as a direct stimulus for increased cytokine production. These findings suggest that systemic inflammation in SSc may be linked to lung involvement and SAA could serve as a potential biomarker for this complication.

Rate of cardiovascular system involvement and gender distribution in Behcets disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yalcin Bas

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Behcets disease is a systemic vasculitis affecting arteries and veins. According to the International Working Group on diagnostic criteria, a clinical description of other non-recurrent oral ulceration, at least two of findings of their examinations; genital ulceration, eye lesions, skin lesions and pathergy test positivity to be accompanied. Vascular involvement is very important symptom in determining the prognosis of the disease that is commonly observed. In this study, 581 Behcets patients who were treated between 1993-2009 were reviewed. 52 patients with cardiovascular involvement retrospectively reviewed. Total cardiovascular system involvements were found to be 9% in Behcets disease patients. 41 thrombophlebit, 11 deep venous thrombosis, 4 aneurysm cases were found. Pulmonary artery aneurysms in 2 of them, 1 in the abdominal aorta, 1 of which was found in the femoral artery. All of aneurysm and deep vein thrombosis and 77% of thrombophlebitis were male. As a result, together with common skin and mucosal involvement severe systemic symptoms such as the cardiovascular system involvement were significantly found in Behcets disease. Moreover, a high percentage of these findings is seen in men have been identified. [J Contemp Med 2011; 1(2.000: 46-49

Precision digital control systems

Science.gov (United States)

Vyskub, V. G.; Rozov, B. S.; Savelev, V. I.

This book is concerned with the characteristics of digital control systems of great accuracy. A classification of such systems is considered along with aspects of stabilization, programmable control applications, digital tracking systems and servomechanisms, and precision systems for the control of a scanning laser beam. Other topics explored are related to systems of proportional control, linear devices and methods for increasing precision, approaches for further decreasing the response time in the case of high-speed operation, possibilities for the implementation of a logical control law, and methods for the study of precision digital control systems. A description is presented of precision automatic control systems which make use of electronic computers, taking into account the existing possibilities for an employment of computers in automatic control systems, approaches and studies required for including a computer in such control systems, and an analysis of the structure of automatic control systems with computers. Attention is also given to functional blocks in the considered systems.

Visualization of multiple organ amyloid involvement in systemic amyloidosis using {sup 11}C-PiB PET imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ezawa, Naoki; Katoh, Nagaaki; Yoshinaga, Tsuneaki [Shinshu University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine (Neurology and Rheumatology), Nagano (Japan); Oguchi, Kazuhiro [Jisenkai Brain Imaging Research Center, Matsumoto (Japan); Yazaki, Masahide [Shinshu University School of Health Sciences, Department of Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Matsumoto (Japan); Shinshu University, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Matsumoto (Japan); Sekijima, Yoshiki [Shinshu University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine (Neurology and Rheumatology), Nagano (Japan); Jisenkai Brain Imaging Research Center, Matsumoto (Japan); Shinshu University, Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Matsumoto (Japan)

2018-03-15

To investigate the utility of Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for evaluating whole-body amyloid involvement in patients with systemic amyloidosis. Whole-body {sup 11}C-PiB PET was performed in seven patients with systemic immunoglobulin light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, seven patients with hereditary transthyretin (ATTRm) amyloidosis, one asymptomatic TTR mutation carrier and three healthy controls. The correlations between clinical organ involvement, radiological {sup 11}C-PiB uptake and histopathological findings were analysed for each organ. Organ involvement on {sup 11}C-PiB PET imaging showed good correlations with the clinical findings for the heart and stomach. Abnormal tracer uptake was also observed in the spleen, lachrymal gland, submandibular gland, sublingual gland, lymph node, brain, scalp, extraocular muscles, nasal mucosa, pharynx, tongue and nuchal muscles, most of which were asymptomatic. Physiological tracer uptake was universally observed in the urinary tract (kidney, renal pelvis, ureter and bladder) and enterohepatic circulatory system (liver, gallbladder, bile duct and small intestine) in all participants. Most of the patients and one healthy control subject showed asymptomatic tracer uptake in the lung and parotid gland. The peripheral nervous system did not show any tracer uptake even in patients with apparent peripheral neuropathy. Histological amyloid deposition was confirmed in biopsied myocardium and gastric mucosa where abnormal {sup 11}C-PiB retention was observed. {sup 11}C-PiB PET imaging can be used clinically in the systemic evaluation of amyloid distribution in patients with AL and ATTRm amyloidosis. Quantitative analysis of {sup 11}C-PiB PET images may be useful in therapy evaluation and will reveal whether amyloid clearance is correlated with clinical response. (orig.)

Private Practitioners' Perspectives on Their Involvement With the Tuberculosis Control Programme in a Southern Indian State.

Science.gov (United States)

Salve, Solomon; Sheikh, Kabir; Porter, John Dh

2016-05-08

Public and private health sectors both play a crucial role in the health systems of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The tuberculosis (TB) control strategy in India encourages the public sector to actively partner with private practitioners (PPs) to improve the quality of front line service delivery. However, ensuring effective and sustainable involvement of PPs constitutes a major challenge. This paper reports the findings from an empirical study focusing on the perspectives and experiences of PPs towards their involvement in TB control programme in India. The study was carried out between November 2010 and December 2011 in a district of a Southern Indian State and utilised qualitative methodologies, combining observations and in-depth interviews with 21 PPs from different medical systems. The collected data was coded and analysed using thematic analysis. PPs perceived themselves to be crucial healthcare providers, with different roles within the public-private mix (PPM) TB policy. Despite this, PPs felt neglected and undervalued in the actual process of implementation of the PPM-TB policy. The entire process was considered to be government driven and their professional skills and knowledge of different medical systems remained unrecognised at the policy level, and weakened their relationship and bond with the policy and with the programme. PPs had contrasting perceptions about the different components of the TB programme that demonstrated the public sector's dominance in the overall implementation of the DOTS strategy. Although PPs felt responsible for their TB patients, they found it difficult to perceive themselves as 'partners with the TB programme.' Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are increasingly utilized as a public health strategy to strengthen health systems. These policies will fail if the concerns of the PPs are neglected. To ensure their long-term involvement in the programme the abilities of PPs and the important perspectives from other

Fixed-structure Control of LTI Systems with Polytopic-type Uncertainty: Application to Inverter-interfaced Microgrids

OpenAIRE

Sad Abadi, Mahdieh Sadat

2016-01-01

This thesis focuses on the development of robust control solutions for linear time-invariant interconnected systems affected by polytopic-type uncertainty. The main issues involved in the control of such systems, e.g. sensor and actuator placement, control configuration selection, and robust fixed-structure control design are included. The problem of fixed-structure control is intrinsically nonconvex and hence computationally intractable. Nevertheless, the problem has attracted considerab...

A novel two-component system involved in secretion stress response in Streptomyces lividans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonia Gullón

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Misfolded proteins accumulating outside the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane can interfere with the secretory machinery, hence the existence of quality factors to eliminate these misfolded proteins is of capital importance in bacteria that are efficient producers of secretory proteins. These bacteria normally use a specific two-component system to respond to the stress produced by the accumulation of the misfolded proteins, by activating the expression of HtrA-like proteases to specifically eliminate the incorrectly folded proteins. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Overproduction of alpha-amylase in S. lividans causing secretion stress permitted the identification of a two-component system (SCO4156-SCO4155 that regulates three HtrA-like proteases which appear to be involved in secretion stress response. Mutants in each of the genes forming part of the two-genes operon that encodes the sensor and regulator protein components accumulated misfolded proteins outside the cell, strongly suggesting the involvement of this two-component system in the S. lividans secretion stress response. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: To our knowledge this is the first time that a specific secretion stress response two-component system is found to control the expression of three HtrA-like protease genes in S. lividans, a bacterium that has been repeatedly used as a host for the synthesis of homologous and heterologous secretory proteins of industrial application.

Clinical and biological features of multiple myeloma involving the gastrointestinal system.

Science.gov (United States)

Talamo, Giampaolo; Cavallo, Federica; Zangari, Maurizio; Barlogie, Bart; Lee, Choon-Kee; Pineda-Roman, Mauricio; Kiwan, Elias; Krishna, Somashekar; Tricot, Guido

2006-07-01

We report 24 cases of multiple myeloma (MM) with involvement of the gastrointestinal (GI) system. We found a strong association with high A lactate dehydrogenase levels, plasmablastic morphology, and A unfavorable karyotype. GI involvement at the time of initial diagnosis was much rarer than later in the course of the disease. The A median survival after diagnosis of GI involvement was 7 months. Among 13 patients treated with stem cell transplantation, the response rate was 92%, and median progression-free survival was 4 months. We conclude that MM involving the GI system is associated with adverse biological features and with short-lasting remissions, even after A high-dose chemotherapy.

Estimation and control of dynamical systems

CERN Document Server

Bensoussan, Alain

2018-01-01

This book provides a comprehensive presentation of classical and advanced topics in estimation and control of dynamical systems with an emphasis on stochastic control. Many aspects which are not easily found in a single text are provided, such as connections between control theory and mathematical finance, as well as differential games. The book is self-contained and prioritizes concepts rather than full rigor, targeting scientists who want to use control theory in their research in applied mathematics, engineering, economics, and management science. Examples and exercises are included throughout, which will be useful for PhD courses and graduate courses in general. Dr. Alain Bensoussan is Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair at UT Dallas and Director of the International Center for Decision and Risk Analysis which develops risk management research as it pertains to large-investment industrial projects that involve new technologies, applications and markets. He is also Chair Professor at City University Hong Kong.

Recent Experiments Involving Few-Nucleon Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Tornow, W.

2014-08-01

Recent experimental results are presented for reactions involving A = 3 to A = 6 nuclear systems. The emphasis is on unique data obtained at new experimental facilities. It is shown that the inertial confinement fusion facilities OMEGA and NIF provide a largely unexpected opportunity for experimental few-body physics to both obtain data of unprecedented quality and extend previous measurements to energies not accessible in the past. Whenever possible, data are compared to state-of-the-art theoretical calculations.

Recent Experiments Involving Few-Nucleon Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tornow, W.

2014-01-01

Recent experimental results are presented for reactions involving A = 3 to A = 6 nuclear systems. The emphasis is on unique data obtained at new experimental facilities. It is shown that the inertial confinement fusion facilities OMEGA and NIF provide a largely unexpected opportunity for experimental few-body physics to both obtain data of unprecedented quality and extend previous measurements to energies not accessible in the past. Whenever possible, data are compared to state-of-the-art theoretical calculations. (author)

Quick setup of test unit for accelerator control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu, W.; D'Ottavio, T.; Gassner, D.; Nemesure, S.; Morris, J.

2011-01-01

Testing a single hardware unit of an accelerator control system often requires the setup of a program with graphical user interface. Developing a dedicated application for a specific hardware unit test could be time consuming and the application may become obsolete after the unit tests. This paper documents a methodology for quick design and setup of an interface focused on performing unit tests of accelerator equipment with minimum programming work. The method has three components. The first is a generic accelerator device object (ADO) manager which can be used to setup, store, and log testing controls parameters for any unit testing system. The second involves the design of a TAPE (Tool for Automated Procedure Execution) sequence file that specifies and implements all te testing and control logic. The sting third is the design of a PET (parameter editing tool) page that provides the unit tester with all the necessary control parameters required for testing. This approach has been used for testing the horizontal plane of the Stochastic Cooling Motion Control System at RHIC.

Optimal robust control strategy of a solid oxide fuel cell system

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiaojuan; Gao, Danhui

2018-01-01

Optimal control can ensure system safe operation with a high efficiency. However, only a few papers discuss optimal control strategies for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems. Moreover, the existed methods ignore the impact of parameter uncertainty on system instantaneous performance. In real SOFC systems, several parameters may vary with the variation of operation conditions and can not be identified exactly, such as load current. Therefore, a robust optimal control strategy is proposed, which involves three parts: a SOFC model with parameter uncertainty, a robust optimizer and robust controllers. During the model building process, boundaries of the uncertain parameter are extracted based on Monte Carlo algorithm. To achieve the maximum efficiency, a two-space particle swarm optimization approach is employed to obtain optimal operating points, which are used as the set points of the controllers. To ensure the SOFC safe operation, two feed-forward controllers and a higher-order robust sliding mode controller are presented to control fuel utilization ratio, air excess ratio and stack temperature afterwards. The results show the proposed optimal robust control method can maintain the SOFC system safe operation with a maximum efficiency under load and uncertainty variations.

Control system design method

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, David G [Tijeras, NM; Robinett, III, Rush D.

2012-02-21

A control system design method and concomitant control system comprising representing a physical apparatus to be controlled as a Hamiltonian system, determining elements of the Hamiltonian system representation which are power generators, power dissipators, and power storage devices, analyzing stability and performance of the Hamiltonian system based on the results of the determining step and determining necessary and sufficient conditions for stability of the Hamiltonian system, creating a stable control system based on the results of the analyzing step, and employing the resulting control system to control the physical apparatus.

Energy-optimal speed control of fans and compressor in a refrigeration system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jakobsen, Arne; Rasmussen, Bjarne D.

1998-01-01

Use of variable speed compressors and variable speed fans for both the evaporator and the condenser makes the refrigeration system more flexible, adds to the degree of freedom of the control system and therefore makes it possible to (on-line) optimise the various speeds involved. Say, for example...... and therefore the achievement of the potential for energy saving. This control/optimisation problem is investigated using a steady-state simulation model....

Context, emotion, and the strategic pursuit of goals: Interactions among multiple brain systems controlling motivated behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aaron J Gruber

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Motivated behaviour exhibits properties that change with experience and partially dissociate among a number of brain structures. Here, we review evidence from rodent experiments demonstrating that multiple brain systems acquire information in parallel and either cooperate or compete for behavioural control. We propose a conceptual model of systems interaction wherein a ventral emotional memory network involving ventral striatum, amygdala, ventral hippocampus, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex triages behavioural responding to stimuli according to their associated affective outcomes. This system engages autonomic and postural responding (avoiding, ignoring, approaching in accordance with associated stimulus valence (negative, neutral, positive, but does not engage particular operant responses. Rather, this emotional system suppresses or invigorates actions that are selected through competition between goal-directed control involving dorsomedial striatum and habitual control involving dorsolateral striatum. The hippocampus provides contextual specificity to the emotional system, and provides an information rich input to the goal-directed system for navigation and discriminations involving ambiguous contexts, complex sensory configurations, or temporal ordering. The rapid acquisition and high capacity for episodic associations in the emotional system may unburden the more complex goal-directed system and reduce interference in the habit system from processing contingencies of neutral stimuli. Interactions among these systems likely involve inhibitory mechanisms and neuromodulation in the basal ganglia to form a dominant response strategy. Innate traits, training methods, and task demands contribute to the nature of these interactions, which can include incidental learning in non-dominant systems. Addition of these features to reinforcement learning models of decision making may better align theoretical predictions with behavioural and neural

Visual System Involvement in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Parkinson Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Arrigo, Alessandro; Calamuneri, Alessandro; Milardi, Demetrio; Mormina, Enricomaria; Rania, Laura; Postorino, Elisa; Marino, Silvia; Di Lorenzo, Giuseppe; Anastasi, Giuseppe Pio; Ghilardi, Maria Felice; Aragona, Pasquale; Quartarone, Angelo; Gaeta, Michele

2017-12-01

Purpose To assess intracranial visual system changes of newly diagnosed Parkinson disease in drug-naïve patients. Materials and Methods Twenty patients with newly diagnosed Parkinson disease and 20 age-matched control subjects were recruited. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted imaging) was performed with a 3-T MR imager. White matter changes were assessed by exploring a white matter diffusion profile by means of diffusion-tensor imaging-based parameters and constrained spherical deconvolution-based connectivity analysis and by means of white matter voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Alterations in occipital gray matter were investigated by means of gray matter VBM. Morphologic analysis of the optic chiasm was based on manual measurement of regions of interest. Statistical testing included analysis of variance, t tests, and permutation tests. Results In the patients with Parkinson disease, significant alterations were found in optic radiation connectivity distribution, with decreased lateral geniculate nucleus V2 density (F, -8.28; P Parkinson disease and that the entire intracranial visual system can be involved. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Rapid Automatized Naming in Children with Dyslexia: Is Inhibitory Control Involved?

Science.gov (United States)

Bexkens, Anika; van den Wildenberg, Wery P M; Tijms, Jurgen

2015-08-01

Rapid automatized naming (RAN) is widely seen as an important indicator of dyslexia. The nature of the cognitive processes involved in rapid naming is however still a topic of controversy. We hypothesized that in addition to the involvement of phonological processes and processing speed, RAN is a function of inhibition processes, in particular of interference control. A total 86 children with dyslexia and 31 normal readers were recruited. Our results revealed that in addition to phonological processing and processing speed, interference control predicts rapid naming in dyslexia, but in contrast to these other two cognitive processes, inhibition is not significantly associated with their reading and spelling skills. After variance in reading and spelling associated with processing speed, interference control and phonological processing was partialled out, naming speed was no longer consistently associated with the reading and spelling skills of children with dyslexia. Finally, dyslexic children differed from normal readers on naming speed, literacy skills, phonological processing and processing speed, but not on inhibition processes. Both theoretical and clinical interpretations of these results are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Economic Model Predictive Control for Large-Scale and Distributed Energy Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Standardi, Laura

Sources (RESs) in the smart grids is increasing. These energy sources bring uncertainty to the production due to their fluctuations. Hence,smart grids need suitable control systems that are able to continuously balance power production and consumption.  We apply the Economic Model Predictive Control (EMPC......) strategy to optimise the economic performances of the energy systems and to balance the power production and consumption. In the case of large-scale energy systems, the electrical grid connects a high number of power units. Because of this, the related control problem involves a high number of variables......In this thesis, we consider control strategies for large and distributed energy systems that are important for the implementation of smart grid technologies.  An electrical grid has to ensure reliability and avoid long-term interruptions in the power supply. Moreover, the share of Renewable Energy...

Neutronic control instrumentation of protection systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furet, J.

1977-01-01

The aims of neutronic control instrumentation are briefly recalled and the present status of materials research and development is presented. As for the out-of-pile instrumentation, emphasis is put on the reliability and efficiency of the detectors and the new solutions of electric signal processing. The possible reactivity measurements at rest are examined. As for in-pile instrumentation results relating to mobile detectors of the type of miniaturized fission chambers are presented. The radiation tests on course of development for several years in the working conditions of neutron self-powdered detectors are analyzed so as to show that their use as built-in in-core instrumentation is to be envisaged at short term. Basic options inherent to the 'Nuclear Safety' philosophy that define the protection system are recalled. A definition and a justification of the performance testing of the instrumentation at rest and in-service are then derived. Some new solutions are envisaged for processing the digital data obtained from the various sensors . A quality control of the materials setting conditions (especially electric noise) ensures a high reliability and availability of the materials involved in the neutron control and the protection system in working conditions [fr

Incoherent control of locally controllable quantum systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong Daoyi; Zhang Chenbin; Rabitz, Herschel; Pechen, Alexander; Tarn, T.-J.

2008-01-01

An incoherent control scheme for state control of locally controllable quantum systems is proposed. This scheme includes three steps: (1) amplitude amplification of the initial state by a suitable unitary transformation, (2) projective measurement of the amplified state, and (3) final optimization by a unitary controlled transformation. The first step increases the amplitudes of some desired eigenstates and the corresponding probability of observing these eigenstates, the second step projects, with high probability, the amplified state into a desired eigenstate, and the last step steers this eigenstate into the target state. Within this scheme, two control algorithms are presented for two classes of quantum systems. As an example, the incoherent control scheme is applied to the control of a hydrogen atom by an external field. The results support the suggestion that projective measurements can serve as an effective control and local controllability information can be used to design control laws for quantum systems. Thus, this scheme establishes a subtle connection between control design and controllability analysis of quantum systems and provides an effective engineering approach in controlling quantum systems with partial controllability information.

Cardio-pulmonary involvement in systemic sclerosis: A study at a tertiary care center

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geetakiran Arakkal

2017-01-01

Conclusions: In our patients, pulmonary involvement was more common than cardiac involvement. Interstitial lung disease and cardiac involvement were more commonly seen in diffuse systemic sclerosis whereas pulmonary hypertension was more frequent in limited systemic sclerosis. Hence, it is important to screen the patients for cardiopulmonary involvement for early diagnosis and treatment and a better prognostic outcome.

Control systems engineering

CERN Document Server

Nise, Norman S

1995-01-01

This completely updated new edition shows how to use MATLAB to perform control-system calculations. Designed for the professional or engineering student who needs a quick and readable update on designing control systems, the text features a series of tightly focused examples that clearly illustrate each concept of designing control systems. Most chapters conclude with a detailed application from the two case studies that run throughout the book: an antenna asimuth control system and a submarine. The author also refers to many examples of design methods.

A Research Framework for Understanding the Practical Impact of Family Involvement in the Juvenile Justice System: The Juvenile Justice Family Involvement Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Sarah Cusworth; Bishop, Asia S; Pullmann, Michael D; Bauer, Grace

2015-12-01

Family involvement is recognized as a critical element of service planning for children's mental health, welfare and education. For the juvenile justice system, however, parents' roles in this system are complex due to youths' legal rights, public safety, a process which can legally position parents as plaintiffs, and a historical legacy of blaming parents for youth indiscretions. Three recent national surveys of juvenile justice-involved parents reveal that the current paradigm elicits feelings of stress, shame and distrust among parents and is likely leading to worse outcomes for youth, families and communities. While research on the impact of family involvement in the justice system is starting to emerge, the field currently has no organizing framework to guide a research agenda, interpret outcomes or translate findings for practitioners. We propose a research framework for family involvement that is informed by a comprehensive review and content analysis of current, published arguments for family involvement in juvenile justice along with a synthesis of family involvement efforts in other child-serving systems. In this model, family involvement is presented as an ascending, ordinal concept beginning with (1) exclusion, and moving toward climates characterized by (2) information-giving, (3) information-eliciting and (4) full, decision-making partnerships. Specific examples of how courts and facilities might align with these levels are described. Further, the model makes predictions for how involvement will impact outcomes at multiple levels with applications for other child-serving systems.

Hydraulic control of tuna fins: A role for the lymphatic system in vertebrate locomotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Pavlov, Vadim; Rosental, Benyamin; Hansen, Nathaniel F; Beers, Jody M; Parish, George; Rowbotham, Ian; Block, Barbara A

2017-07-21

The lymphatic system in teleost fish has genetic and developmental origins similar to those of the mammalian lymphatic system, which is involved in immune response and fluid homeostasis. Here, we show that the lymphatic system of tunas functions in swimming hydrodynamics. Specifically, a musculo-vascular complex, consisting of fin muscles, bones, and lymphatic vessels, is involved in the hydraulic control of median fins. This specialization of the lymphatic system is associated with fish in the family Scombridae and may have evolved in response to the demand for swimming and maneuvering control in these high-performance species. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

The Human Eye Position Control System in a Rehabilitation Setting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yvonne Nolan

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Our work at Ireland’s National Rehabilitation Hospital involves designing communication systems for people suffering from profound physical disabilities. One such system uses the electro-oculogram, which is an (x,y system of voltages picked up by pairs of electrodes placed, respectively, above and below and on either side of the eyes. The eyeball has a dc polarisation between cornea and back, arising from the photoreceptor rods and cones in the retina. As the eye rotates, the varying voltages projected onto the electrodes drive a cursor over a mimic keyboard on a computer screen. Symbols are selected with a switching action derived, for example, from a blink. Experience in using this mode of communication has given us limited facilities to study the eye position control system. We present here a resulting new feedback model for rotation in either the vertical or the horizontal plane, which involves the eyeball controlled by an agonist-antagonist muscle pair, modelled by a single equivalent bidirectional muscle with torque falling off linearly with angular velocity. We have incorporated muscle spindles and have tuned them by pole assignment associated with an optimum stability criterion.

Discrete control systems

CERN Document Server

Okuyama, Yoshifumi

2014-01-01

Discrete Control Systems establishes a basis for the analysis and design of discretized/quantized control systemsfor continuous physical systems. Beginning with the necessary mathematical foundations and system-model descriptions, the text moves on to derive a robust stability condition. To keep a practical perspective on the uncertain physical systems considered, most of the methods treated are carried out in the frequency domain. As part of the design procedure, modified Nyquist–Hall and Nichols diagrams are presented and discretized proportional–integral–derivative control schemes are reconsidered. Schemes for model-reference feedback and discrete-type observers are proposed. Although single-loop feedback systems form the core of the text, some consideration is given to multiple loops and nonlinearities. The robust control performance and stability of interval systems (with multiple uncertainties) are outlined. Finally, the monograph describes the relationship between feedback-control and discrete ev...

Quantitative safety assessment of air traffic control systems through system control capacity

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jingjing

Quantitative Safety Assessments (QSA) are essential to safety benefit verification and regulations of developmental changes in safety critical systems like the Air Traffic Control (ATC) systems. Effectiveness of the assessments is particularly desirable today in the safe implementations of revolutionary ATC overhauls like NextGen and SESAR. QSA of ATC systems are however challenged by system complexity and lack of accident data. Extending from the idea "safety is a control problem" in the literature, this research proposes to assess system safety from the control perspective, through quantifying a system's "control capacity". A system's safety performance correlates to this "control capacity" in the control of "safety critical processes". To examine this idea in QSA of the ATC systems, a Control-capacity Based Safety Assessment Framework (CBSAF) is developed which includes two control capacity metrics and a procedural method. The two metrics are Probabilistic System Control-capacity (PSC) and Temporal System Control-capacity (TSC); each addresses an aspect of a system's control capacity. And the procedural method consists three general stages: I) identification of safety critical processes, II) development of system control models and III) evaluation of system control capacity. The CBSAF was tested in two case studies. The first one assesses an en-route collision avoidance scenario and compares three hypothetical configurations. The CBSAF was able to capture the uncoordinated behavior between two means of control, as was observed in a historic midair collision accident. The second case study compares CBSAF with an existing risk based QSA method in assessing the safety benefits of introducing a runway incursion alert system. Similar conclusions are reached between the two methods, while the CBSAF has the advantage of simplicity and provides a new control-based perspective and interpretation to the assessments. The case studies are intended to investigate the

Retrofit SCR system for NOx control from heavy-duty mining equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mannan, M.A.

2009-01-01

Diesel engines are used extensively in the mining industry and offer many advantages. However, particulate matter (PM) emissions and nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) are among its disadvantages. A significant concern related to PM and NOx in an underground mine involves the use of diesel exhaust after treatment systems such as diesel particulate filters and selective catalytic reduction (SCR). This presentation discussed NOx and PM control and provided a description of an SCR system and examples of SCR retrofits. Options for NOx control were discussed and a case study involving the installation of an SCR retrofit system in an underground mine operated by Sifto Salt was also presented. The purpose of the case study was to identify cost effective retrofit solutions to lower nitrogen dioxide emissions from heavy-duty trucks operating in underground mines. The case study illustrated and presented the candidate vehicle, baseline emissions, a BlueMax SCR retrofit solution, and BlueMax installation. 1 tab., 6 figs.

A Piecewise Affine Hybrid Systems Approach to Fault Tolerant Satellite Formation Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunnet, Jacob Deleuran; Larsen, Jesper Abildgaard; Bak, Thomas

2008-01-01

In this paper a procedure for modelling satellite formations   including failure dynamics as a piecewise-affine hybrid system is   shown. The formulation enables recently developed methods and tools   for control and analysis of piecewise-affine systems to be applied   leading to synthesis of fault...... tolerant controllers and analysis of   the system behaviour given possible faults.  The method is   illustrated using a simple example involving two satellites trying   to reach a specific formation despite of actuator faults occurring....

Informational analysis involving application of complex information system

Science.gov (United States)

Ciupak, Clébia; Vanti, Adolfo Alberto; Balloni, Antonio José; Espin, Rafael

The aim of the present research is performing an informal analysis for internal audit involving the application of complex information system based on fuzzy logic. The same has been applied in internal audit involving the integration of the accounting field into the information systems field. The technological advancements can provide improvements to the work performed by the internal audit. Thus we aim to find, in the complex information systems, priorities for the work of internal audit of a high importance Private Institution of Higher Education. The applied method is quali-quantitative, as from the definition of strategic linguistic variables it was possible to transform them into quantitative with the matrix intersection. By means of a case study, where data were collected via interview with the Administrative Pro-Rector, who takes part at the elaboration of the strategic planning of the institution, it was possible to infer analysis concerning points which must be prioritized at the internal audit work. We emphasize that the priorities were identified when processed in a system (of academic use). From the study we can conclude that, starting from these information systems, audit can identify priorities on its work program. Along with plans and strategic objectives of the enterprise, the internal auditor can define operational procedures to work in favor of the attainment of the objectives of the organization.

The neurobiology of reward and cognitive control systems and their role in incentivizing health behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Garavan, Hugh; Weierstall, Karen

2012-11-01

This article reviews the neurobiology of cognitive control and reward processes and addresses their role in the treatment of addiction. We propose that the neurobiological mechanisms involved in treatment may differ from those involved in the etiology of addiction and consequently are worthy of increased investigation. We review the literature on reward and control processes and evidence of differences in these systems in drug addicted individuals. We also review the relatively small literature on neurobiological predictors of abstinence. We conclude that prefrontal control systems may be central to a successful recovery from addiction. The frontal lobes have been shown to regulate striatal reward-related processes, to be among the regions that predict treatment outcome, and to show elevated functioning in those who have succeeded in maintaining abstinence. The evidence of the involvement of the frontal lobes in recovery is consistent with the hypothesis that recovery is a distinct process that is more than the undoing of those processes involved in becoming addicted and a return to the pre-addiction state of the individual. The extent to which these frontal systems are engaged by treatment interventions may contribute to their efficacy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Involving Extension in Urban Food Systems: An Example from California

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucy Diekmann

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Nationwide, Extension is increasingly involved in local food system work. In cities, initiatives to improve the local food system often include urban agriculture, which has attracted the attention of diverse stakeholders for its many potential social, health, economic, and environmental impacts. This article illustrates how Extension in the San Francisco Bay Area is developing urban agriculture programming and engaging in food-system-related partnerships. It also shares lessons learned from these efforts. In this metropolitan region, Extension practice aligns well with research findings on Extension involvement in local food systems, particularly with the emphasis on providing educational opportunities and resources adapted to unique needs of city residents and working collaboratively with community and government partners to facilitate broader food system change. The results of this case study will be useful for Extension personnel in designing and implementing programs related to urban food systems.

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clifford, T.S.; Barton, D.S.; Oerter, B.R.

1997-01-01

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider control system has been used in the commissioning of the AGS to RHIC transfer line and in the first RHIC sextant test. Much of the controls infrastructure for networks and links has been installed throughout the collider. All of the controls hardware modules needed to be built for early RHIC operations have been designed and tested. Many of these VME modules are already being used in normal AGS operations. Over 150 VME based front end computers and device controllers will be installed by the Summer of 1998 in order to be ready for Fall of 1998. A few features are being added to the front end computer core software. The bulk of the Accelerator Device Objects (ADOs) which are instantiated in the FECs, have been written and tested in the early commissioning. A configuration database has been designed. Generic control and display of ADO parameters via a spreadsheet like program on the console level computers was provided early on in the control system development. User interface tools that were developed for the AGS control system have been used in RHIC applications. Some of the basic operations programs, like alarm display and save/restore, that are used in the AGS operations have been or will be expanded to support RHIC operations. A model for application programs which involves a console level manager servicing ADOs have been verified with a few RHIC applications. More applications need to be written for the Fall of 1998 commissioning effort. A sequencer for automatic control of the fill is being written with the expectation that it will be useful in early commissioning

Minicomputer controlled test system for process control and monitoring systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Worster, L.D.

A minicomputer controlled test system for testing process control and monitoring systems is described. This system, in service for over one year, has demonstrated that computerized control of such testing has a real potential for expanding the scope of the testing, improving accuracy of testing, and significantly reducing the time required to do the testing. The test system is built around a 16-bit minicomputer with 12K of memory. The system programming language is BASIC with the addition of assembly level routines for communication with the peripheral devices. The peripheral devices include a 100 channel scanner, analog-to-digital converter, visual display, and strip printer. (auth)

Role of expert systems in the operation and control of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozenholc, M.

1985-09-01

This paper summarizes the past improvements and remaining limitations of plant control systems, defines knowledge engineering and proposes some prospects for future uses of expert systems in plant operation, discusses the present involvement in expert systems and the status of the first applications and, finally, draws some simple conclusions

Gastrointestinal system involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Z; Xu, D; Wang, Z; Wang, Y; Zhang, S; Li, M; Zeng, X

2017-10-01

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem disorder which can affect the gastrointestinal (GI) system. Although GI symptoms can manifest in 50% of patients with SLE, these have barely been reviewed due to difficulty in identifying different causes. This study aims to clarify clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment of the four major SLE-related GI system complications: protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), intestinal pseudo-obstruction (IPO), hepatic involvement and pancreatitis. It is a systematic review using MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and the major search terms were SLE, PLE, IPO, hepatitis and pancreatitis. A total of 125 articles were chosen for our study. SLE-related PLE was characterized by edema and hypoalbuminemia, with Technetium 99m labeled human albumin scintigraphy ( 99m Tc HAS) and alpha-1-antitrypsin fecal clearance test commonly used as diagnostic test. The most common site of protein leakage was the small intestine and the least common site was the stomach. More than half of SLE-related IPO patients had ureterohydronephrosis, and sometimes they manifested as interstitial cystitis and hepatobiliary dilatation. Lupus hepatitis and SLE accompanied by autoimmune hepatitis (SLE-AIH overlap) shared similar clinical manifestations but had different autoantibodies and histopathological features, and positive anti-ribosome P antibody highly indicated the diagnosis of lupus hepatitis. Lupus pancreatitis was usually accompanied by high SLE activity with a relatively high mortality rate. Early diagnosis and timely intervention were crucial, and administration of corticosteroids and immunosuppressants was effective for most of the patients.

The involvement of galectin-3 in skin injury in systemic lupus erythematosus patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Z; Meng, Z; Han, Y; Cao, C; Tan, G; Wang, L

2018-04-01

Objective Our previous research suggested that anti-galectin-3 antibody was highly associated with the development of lupus skin lesions in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In this study we aimed to investigate the involvement of galectin-3 in SLE skin damage. Methods The study consisted of 49 patients with SLE, 16 with dermatomyositis and 11 with systemic scleroderma and 20 healthy controls. Galectin-3 was examined by ELISA and immunohistochemical staining in serum and skin, respectively. Results Serum galectin-3 was significantly higher in patients with SLE than in those with dermatomyositis ( P  0.05). As for subtypes of skin lesions in SLE, galectin-3 expression was lower in chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus than in acute cutaneous lupus erythematosus ( P = 0.0439). Conclusion Serum galectin-3 is unlikely to play a role in the pathogenesis of lupus skin damage, but can be a potential biomarker for the measurement of SLE disease activity. Galectin-3 is greatly reduced in patients with lupus lesions compared with healthy controls, which may contribute to the recruitment of inflammatory cells in the skin.

Game-based Abstraction and Controller Synthesis for Probabilistic Hybrid Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hahn, Ernst Moritz; Norman, Gethin; Parker, David

2011-01-01

We consider a class of hybrid systems that involve random phenomena, in addition to discrete and continuous behaviour. Examples of such systems include wireless sensing and control applications. We propose and compare two abstraction techniques for this class of models, which yield lower and upper...... bounds on the optimal probability of reaching a particular class of states. We also demonstrate the applicability of these abstraction techniques to the computation of long-run average reward properties and the synthesis of controllers. The first of the two abstractions yields more precise information......, while the second is easier to construct. For the latter, we demonstrate how existing solvers for hybrid systems can be leveraged to perform the computation....

Open Hardware for CERN's accelerator control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bij, E van der; Serrano, J; Wlostowski, T; Cattin, M; Gousiou, E; Sanchez, P Alvarez; Boccardi, A; Voumard, N; Penacoba, G

2012-01-01

The accelerator control systems at CERN will be upgraded and many electronics modules such as analog and digital I/O, level converters and repeaters, serial links and timing modules are being redesigned. The new developments are based on the FPGA Mezzanine Card, PCI Express and VME64x standards while the Wishbone specification is used as a system on a chip bus. To attract partners, the projects are developed in an 'Open' fashion. Within this Open Hardware project new ways of working with industry are being evaluated and it has been proven that industry can be involved at all stages, from design to production and support.

A national control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsson, A.

1975-01-01

An effective control of nuclear fissionable material is dependent on three different kinds of control, the industry - laboratory management, a national control system and an international safeguards system. The national systems of control differ greatly between various industrialized countries. Two principal reasons for fact can be mentioned. The type and the amounts for nuclear material may be different depending upon the stage of development of the nuclear industry in the country in question. Another reason may be that the country may wish to establish a very elaborate national system of control in order to minimize the IAEA control as much as possible. The two safeguards agreements between the Agency and Sweden on one hand and the Agency and Japan on the other hand can serve as examples for the understanding of the latitude of the IAEA safeguards system under NPT due to the influence of the national control system. If it thus is apparent that the national control system is strongly interrelated to the international safeguards system it is equally influenced by the control and accountancy systems which exist at the nuclear plants and development laboratories. A detailed study of national control systems and their relations to plant management control would fall outside the scope of this article. Some important features will however be examined. (author)

Computer system design description for SY-101 hydrogen mitigation test project data acquisition and control system (DACS-1). Revision 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Truitt, R.W.

1994-01-01

This document provides descriptions of components and tasks that are involved in the computer system for the data acquisition and control of the mitigation tests conducted on waste tank SY-101 at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The system was designed and implemented by Los alamos National Laboratory and supplied to Westinghouse Hanford Company. The computers (both personal computers and specialized data-taking computers) and the software programs of the system will hereafter collectively be referred to as the DACS (Data Acquisition and Control System)

Dynamic Systems and Control Engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong Seok

1994-02-01

This book deals with introduction of dynamic system and control engineering, frequency domain modeling of dynamic system, temporal modeling of dynamic system, typical dynamic system and automatic control device, performance and stability of control system, root locus analysis, analysis of frequency domain dynamic system, design of frequency domain dynamic system, design and analysis of space, space of control system and digital control system such as control system design of direct digital and digitalization of consecutive control system.

Dynamic Systems and Control Engineering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jong Seok

1994-02-15

This book deals with introduction of dynamic system and control engineering, frequency domain modeling of dynamic system, temporal modeling of dynamic system, typical dynamic system and automatic control device, performance and stability of control system, root locus analysis, analysis of frequency domain dynamic system, design of frequency domain dynamic system, design and analysis of space, space of control system and digital control system such as control system design of direct digital and digitalization of consecutive control system.

Involvement of central nervous system in the schistosomiasis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teresa Cristina de Abreu Ferrari

2004-08-01

Full Text Available The involvement of the central nervous system (CNS by schistosomes may or may not determine clinical manifestations. When symptomatic, neuroschistosomiasis (NS is one of the most severe presentations of schistosomal infection. Considering the symptomatic form, cerebral involvement is almost always due to Schistosoma japonicum and the spinal cord disease, caused by S. mansoni or S. haematobium. Available evidence suggests that NS depends basically on the presence of parasite eggs in the nervous tissue and on the host immune response. The patients with cerebral NS usually have the clinical manifestations of increased intracranial pressure associated with focal neurological signs; and those with schistosomal myeloradiculopathy (SMR present rapidly progressing symptoms of myelitis involving the lower cord, usually in association with the involvement of the cauda esquina roots. The diagnosis of cerebral NS is established by biopsy of the nervous tissue and SMR is usually diagnosed according to a clinical criterion. Antischistosomal drugs, corticosteroids and surgery are the resourses available for treating NS. The outcome is variable and is better in cerebral disease.

Architecture of SPIDER control and data acquisition system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luchetta, A.; Manduchi, G.; Taliercio, C.; Soppelsa, A.; Barbalace, A.; Paolucci, F.; Sartori, F.; Barbato, P.; Breda, M.; Capobianco, R.; Molon, F.; Moressa, M.; Polato, S.; Simionato, P.; Zampiva, E.

2012-01-01

The ITER Heating Neutral Beam injectors will be implemented in three steps: development of the ion source prototype, development of the full injector prototype, and, finally, construction of up to three ITER injectors. The first two steps will be carried out in the ITER neutral beam test facility under construction in Italy. The ion source prototype, referred to as SPIDER, which is currently in the development phase, is a complex experiment involving more than 20 plant units and operating with beam-on pulses lasting up to 1 h. As for control and data acquisition it requires fast and slow control (cycle time around 0.1 ms and 10 ms, respectively), synchronization (10 ns resolution), and data acquisition for about 1000 channels (analogue and images) with sampling frequencies up to tens of MS/s, data throughput up to 200 MB/s, and data storage volume of up to tens of TB/year. The paper describes the architecture of the SPIDER control and data acquisition system, discussing the SPIDER requirements and the ITER CODAC interfaces and specifications for plant system instrumentation and control.

Automatic control systems engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, Yun Gi

2004-01-01

This book gives descriptions of automatic control for electrical electronics, which indicates history of automatic control, Laplace transform, block diagram and signal flow diagram, electrometer, linearization of system, space of situation, state space analysis of electric system, sensor, hydro controlling system, stability, time response of linear dynamic system, conception of root locus, procedure to draw root locus, frequency response, and design of control system.

Selective involvement of the amygdala in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bart J Emmer

2006-12-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Antibodies specifically affect the amygdala in a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE. The aim of our study was to investigate whether there is also specific involvement of the amygdala in human SLE. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We analyzed a group of 37 patients with neuropsychiatric SLE (NP-SLE, 21 patients with SLE, and a group of 12 healthy control participants with diffusion weighted imaging (DWI. In addition, in a subset of eight patients, plasma was available to determine their anti-NMDAR antibody status. From the structural magnetic resonance imaging data, the amygdala and the hippocampus were segmented, as well as the white and gray matter, and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC was retrieved. ADC values between controls, patients with SLE, and patients with NP-SLE were tested using analysis of variance with post-hoc Bonferroni correction. No differences were found in the gray or white matter segments. The average ADC in the amygdala of patients with NP-SLE and SLE (940 x 10(-6 mm2/s; p = 0.006 and 949 x 10(-6 mm2/s; p = 0.019, respectively was lower than in healthy control participants (1152 x 10(-6 mm2/s. Mann-Whitney analysis revealed that the average ADC in the amygdala of patients with anti-NMDAR antibodies (n = 4; 802 x 10(-6 mm2/s was lower (p = 0.029 than the average ADC of patients without anti-NMDAR antibodies (n = 4; 979 x 10(-6 mm2/s and also lower (p = 0.001 than in healthy control participants. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to our knowledge to observe damage in the amygdala in patients with SLE. Patients with SLE with anti-NMDAR antibodies had more severe damage in the amygdala compared to SLE patients without anti-NMDAR antibodies.

Fuzzy Controller for a Voltage-Regulated Solar-Powered MPPT System for Hybrid Power System Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaw-Kuen Shiau

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design of a fuzzy-logic-based voltage-regulated solar power maximum power point tracking (MPPT system for applications involving hybrid power systems. The system contains a solar power system and battery as the primary and secondary power sources, respectively. The solar system alone supplies power to the electric motor and maintains the output voltage at a predetermined level when it has sufficient power. When the solar power is insufficient, the solar system is operated at its maximum power point (MPP and the battery is engaged to compensate for the insufficiency. First, a variant of the incremental conductance MPP condition was established. Under the MPP condition, the voltage-regulated MPPT system was formulated as a feedback control system, where the MPP condition and voltage regulation requirements were used as the system inputs. Next, a fuzzy controller was developed to perform the voltage-regulated MPPT function for the hybrid power system. A simulation model based on Matrix laboratory (MATLAB/SIMULINK (a block diagram environment for multi-domain simulation and model-based design and a piecewise linear electric circuit simulation (PLECS tool for controlling the dc motor velocity was developed to verify the voltage-regulated solar power MPPT system.

Control and automation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, R.; Zillich, H.

1986-01-01

A survey is given of the development of control and automation systems for energy uses. General remarks about control and automation schemes are followed by a description of modern process control systems along with process control processes as such. After discussing the particular process control requirements of nuclear power plants the paper deals with the reliability and availability of process control systems and refers to computerized simulation processes. The subsequent paragraphs are dedicated to descriptions of the operating floor, ergonomic conditions, existing systems, flue gas desulfurization systems, the electromagnetic influences on digital circuits as well as of light wave uses. (HAG) [de

Pilot-in-the-Loop Analysis of Propulsive-Only Flight Control Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Hwei-Lan; Biezad, Daniel J.

1996-01-01

Longitudinal control system architectures are presented which directly couple flight stick motions to throttle commands for a multi-engine aircraft. This coupling enables positive attitude control with complete failure of the flight control system. The architectures chosen vary from simple feedback gains to classical lead-lag compensators with and without prefilters. Each architecture is reviewed for its appropriateness for piloted flight. The control systems are then analyzed with pilot-in-the-loop metrics related to bandwidth required for landing. Results indicate that current and proposed bandwidth requirements should be modified for throttles only flight control. Pilot ratings consistently showed better ratings than predicted by analysis. Recommendations are made for more robust design and implementation. The use of Quantitative Feedback Theory for compensator design is discussed. Although simple and effective augmented control can be achieved in a wide variety of failed configurations, a few configuration characteristics are dominant for pilot-in-the-loop control. These characteristics will be tested in a simulator study involving failed flight controls for a multi-engine aircraft.

Role of pressuriser in enhancing pressure control system capability in primary system of 500 MWe PHWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Walia, M P.S.; Misri, Vijay; Bapat, C N; Sharma, V K [Nuclear Power Corporation, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India)

1994-06-01

The primary heat transport system of a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) extracts and transports the heat produced in the fuel (located inside coolant channel assemblies) to the steam generators where steam is generated to run the turbo-generator. The heat transport medium (primary coolant) is heavy water which is kept in a pressurized liquid state with the help of a pressure control system. Feed and bleed circuits with associated equipment of PHT main system have traditionally constituted the pressure control system. However, for large size reactors of 500 MWe capacity, a surge tank known as pressurizer was incorporated due to the presence of relatively large inventory in PHT main circuit. The pressurizer acts as a cushion for pressure variations resulting from various transients. This significantly reduces the onerous demand on feed and bleed system, thereby reducing reactor outages on system pressure excursions. The paper describes in detail the pressure control system of 500 MWe PHWR involving pressuriser and feed and bleed system including their functions and instrumentation. The results of mathematical modelling/analysis undertaken to establish the response adequacy of pressure control system, to postulated plant transients vis-a-vis the role of pressurizer are presented. (author). 10 figs.

SVM-Based Control System for a Robot Manipulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Foudil Abdessemed

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Real systems are usually non-linear, ill-defined, have variable parameters and are subject to external disturbances. Modelling these systems is often an approximation of the physical phenomena involved. However, it is from this approximate system of representation that we propose - in this paper - to build a robust control, in the sense that it must ensure low sensitivity towards parameters, uncertainties, variations and external disturbances. The computed torque method is a well-established robot control technique which takes account of the dynamic coupling between the robot links. However, its main disadvantage lies on the assumption of an exactly known dynamic model which is not realizable in practice. To overcome this issue, we propose the estimation of the dynamics model of the nonlinear system with a machine learning regression method. The output of this regressor is used in conjunction with a PD controller to achieve the tracking trajectory task of a robot manipulator. In cases where some of the parameters of the plant undergo a change in their values, poor performance may result. To cope with this drawback, a fuzzy precompensator is inserted to reinforce the SVM computed torque-based controller and avoid any deterioration. The theory is developed and the simulation results are carried out on a two-degree of freedom robot manipulator to demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.

Control system design guide

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sellers, David; Friedman, Hannah; Haasl, Tudi; Bourassa, Norman; Piette, Mary Ann

2003-05-01

The ''Control System Design Guide'' (Design Guide) provides methods and recommendations for the control system design process and control point selection and installation. Control systems are often the most problematic system in a building. A good design process that takes into account maintenance, operation, and commissioning can lead to a smoothly operating and efficient building. To this end, the Design Guide provides a toolbox of templates for improving control system design and specification. HVAC designers are the primary audience for the Design Guide. The control design process it presents will help produce well-designed control systems that achieve efficient and robust operation. The spreadsheet examples for control valve schedules, damper schedules, and points lists can streamline the use of the control system design concepts set forth in the Design Guide by providing convenient starting points from which designers can build. Although each reader brings their own unique questions to the text, the Design Guide contains information that designers, commissioning providers, operators, and owners will find useful.

Indirect control of quantum systems via an accessor: pure coherent control without system excitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu, H C; Dong Hui; Sun, C P; Liu, X F

2009-01-01

A pure indirect control of quantum systems via a quantum accessor is investigated. In this control scheme, we do not apply any external classical excitation fields on the controlled system and we control a quantum system via a quantum accessor and classical control fields control the accessor only. Complete controllability is investigated for arbitrary finite-dimensional quantum systems and exemplified by two- and three-dimensional systems. The scheme exhibits some advantages; it uses less qubits in the accessor and does not depend on the energy-level structure of the controlled system

The Role of Involvement in Learning Management System Success

Science.gov (United States)

Klobas, Jane E.; McGill, Tanya J.

2010-01-01

Learning management systems (LMS) have been adopted by the majority of higher education institutions and research that explores the factors that influence the success of LMS is needed. This paper investigates the roles of student and instructor involvement in LMS success, using the DeLone and McLean (2003) model of information systems success as a…

Early short-term management of control-actuator failures in a linear dynamic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben-Haim, Y.

1989-01-01

Early short-term management of malfunction attempts to maintain system stability during the early development stages of a failure. This is achieved in two stages. First, the failure is partially diagnosed by comparing observed system behavior against the performance expected for each of the selected set of hypothesized malfunctions. Second, the normal controller is replaced by a compensatory controller whose aim is to maintain system stability while compensating for the failure. Malfunctions involving control actuators are studied here. The aim of this study is to develop a technique for choosing the set of hypothesized failures and compensatory controllers which assure that the state of the system remains within specified bounds for a given duration after initiation of failure, regardless of the precise temporal development of the failure

Intelligent control systems 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shoureshi, R.

1991-01-01

The field of artificial intelligence (Al) has generated many useful ideas and techniques that can be integrated into the design of control systems. It is believed and, for special cases, has been demonstrated, that integration of Al into control systems would provide the necessary tools for solving many of the complex problems that present control techniques and Al algorithms are unable to do, individually. However, this integration requires the development of basic understanding and new fundamentals to provide scientific bases for achievement of its potential. This book presents an overview of some of the latest research studies in the area of intelligent control systems. These papers present techniques for formulation of intelligent control, and development of the rule-based control systems. Papers present applications of control systems in nuclear power plants and HVAC systems

FFTF control system experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warrick, R.P.

1981-01-01

The FFTF control systems provide control equipment for safe and efficient operation of the plant. For convenience, these systems will be divided into three parts for discussions: (1) Plant Protection System (PPS); (2) Plant Control System (PCS); and (3) General Observations. Performance of each of these systems is discussed

PI2 controller based coordinated control with Redox Flow Battery and Unified Power Flow Controller for improved Restoration Indices in a deregulated power system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Thirunavukarasu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The nature of power system restoration problem involves status assessment, optimization of generation capability and load pickup. This paper proposes the evaluation of Power System Restoration Indices (PSRI based on the Automatic Generation Control (AGC assessment of interconnected power system in a deregulated environment. The PSRI are useful for system planners to prepare the power system restoration plans and to improve the efficiency of the physical operation of the power system with the increased transmission capacity in the network. The stabilization of frequency and tie-line power oscillations in an interconnected power system becomes challenging when implemented in the future competitive environment. This paper also deals with the concept of AGC in two-area reheat power system having coordinated control action with Redox Flow Battery (RFB and Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC are capable of controlling the network performance in a very fast manner and improve power transfer limits in order to have a better restoration. In addition to that a new Proportional–Double Integral (PI2 controller is designed and implemented in AGC loop and controller parameters are optimized through Bacterial Foraging Optimization (BFO algorithm. Simulation results reveal that the proposed PI2 controller is that it has good stability during load variations, excellent transient and dynamic responses when compared with the system comprising PI controller. Moreover the AGC loop with RFB coordinated with UPFC has greatly improved the dynamic response and it reduces the control input requirements, to ensure improved PSRI in order to provide the reduced restoration time, thereby improving the system reliability.

Entry-Control Systems Handbook

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-09-01

The function of an entry-control system in a total Physical Protection System is to allow the movement of authorized personnel and material through normal access routes, yet detect and delay unauthorized movement of personnel and material from uncontrolled areas. The ten chapters of this handbook cover: introduction, credentials, personnel identity verification systems, special nuclear materials monitors, metal detectors, explosives sensors, package search systems, criteria for selection of entry-control equipment, machine-aided manual entry-control systems, and automated entry-control systems. A system example and its cost are included as an appendix

Search for Partner Proteins of A. thaliana Immunophilins Involved in the Control of Plant Immunity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inna A. Abdeeva

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The involvement of plant immunophilins in multiple essential processes such as development, various ways of adapting to biotic and abiotic stresses, and photosynthesis has already been established. Previously, research has demonstrated the involvement of three immunophilin genes (AtCYP19-1/ROC3, AtFKBP65/ROF2, and AtCYP57 in the control of plant response to invasion by various pathogens. Current research attempts to identify host target proteins for each of the selected immunophilins. As a result, candidate interactors have been determined and confirmed using a yeast 2-hybrid (Y2H system for protein–protein interaction assays. The generation of mutant isoforms of ROC3 and AtCYP57 harboring substituted amino acids in the in silico-predicted active sites became essential to achieving significant binding to its target partners. This data shows that ROF2 targets calcium-dependent lipid-binding domain-containing protein (At1g70790; AT1 and putative protein phosphatase (At2g30020; АТ2, whereas ROC3 interacts with GTP-binding protein (At1g30580; ENGD-1 and RmlC-like cupin (At5g39120. The immunophilin AtCYP57 binds to putative pyruvate decarboxylase-1 (Pdc1 and clathrin adaptor complex-related protein (At5g05010. Identified interactors confirm our previous findings that immunophilins ROC3, ROF2, and AtCYP57 are directly involved with stress response control. Further, these findings extend our understanding of the molecular functional pathways of these immunophilins.

Cox17 Protein Is an Auxiliary Factor Involved in the Control of the Mitochondrial Contact Site and Cristae Organizing System.

Science.gov (United States)

Chojnacka, Magdalena; Gornicka, Agnieszka; Oeljeklaus, Silke; Warscheid, Bettina; Chacinska, Agnieszka

2015-06-12

The mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing system (MICOS) is a recently discovered protein complex that is crucial for establishing and maintaining the proper inner membrane architecture and contacts with the outer membrane of mitochondria. The ways in which the MICOS complex is assembled and its integrity is regulated remain elusive. Here, we report a direct link between Cox17, a protein involved in the assembly of cytochrome c oxidase, and the MICOS complex. Cox17 interacts with Mic60, thereby modulating MICOS complex integrity. This interaction does not involve Sco1, a partner of Cox17 in transferring copper ions to cytochrome c oxidase. However, the Cox17-MICOS interaction is regulated by copper ions. We propose that Cox17 is a newly identified factor involved in maintaining the architecture of the MICOS complex. © 2015 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

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

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

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

Development and application of automatic frequency and power control systems for large power units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

V.A. Bilenko; A.D. Melamed; E.E. Mikushevich; D.Y. Nikol' skii; R.L. Rogachev; N.A. Romanov [ZAO Interavtomatika (Interautomatika AG), Moscow (Russian Federation)

2008-07-01

We describe the results of work carried out at ZAO Interavtomatika on the development and putting into use of a system for automatically controlling the frequency and power output of large coal-fired power units involving the retrofitting of the turbine's hydraulic automatic control system. Certificates affirming conformity to the Standard of the System Operator Centralized Dispatching Administration (SO-CDA) have been received for eight power units as an outcome of these efforts.

Developmental Programming of Obesity and Liver Metabolism by Maternal Perinatal Nutrition Involves the Melanocortin System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Cordero

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Maternal obesity predisposes offspring to metabolic dysfunction and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD. Melanocortin-4 receptor (Mc4r-deficient mouse models exhibit obesity during adulthood. Here, we aim to determine the influence of the Mc4r gene on the liver of mice subjected to perinatal diet-induced obesity. Female mice heterozygous for Mc4r fed an obesogenic or a control diet for 5 weeks were mated with heterozygous males, with the same diet continued throughout pregnancy and lactation, generating four offspring groups: control wild type (C_wt, control knockout (C_KO, obese wild type (Ob_wt, and obese knockout (Ob_KO. At 21 days, offspring were genotyped, weaned onto a control diet, and sacrificed at 6 months old. Offspring phenotypic characteristics, plasma biochemical profile, liver histology, and hepatic gene expression were analyzed. Mc4r_ko offspring showed higher body, liver and adipose tissue weights respect to the wild type animals. Histological examination showed mild hepatic steatosis in offspring group C_KO. The expression of hepatic genes involved in regulating inflammation, fibrosis, and immune cell infiltration were upregulated by the absence of the Mc4r gene. These results demonstrate that maternal obesogenic feeding during the perinatal period programs offspring obesity development with involvement of the Mc4r system.

Algebraic and adaptive learning in neural control systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrari, Silvia

A systematic approach is developed for designing adaptive and reconfigurable nonlinear control systems that are applicable to plants modeled by ordinary differential equations. The nonlinear controller comprising a network of neural networks is taught using a two-phase learning procedure realized through novel techniques for initialization, on-line training, and adaptive critic design. A critical observation is that the gradients of the functions defined by the neural networks must equal corresponding linear gain matrices at chosen operating points. On-line training is based on a dual heuristic adaptive critic architecture that improves control for large, coupled motions by accounting for actual plant dynamics and nonlinear effects. An action network computes the optimal control law; a critic network predicts the derivative of the cost-to-go with respect to the state. Both networks are algebraically initialized based on prior knowledge of satisfactory pointwise linear controllers and continue to adapt on line during full-scale simulations of the plant. On-line training takes place sequentially over discrete periods of time and involves several numerical procedures. A backpropagating algorithm called Resilient Backpropagation is modified and successfully implemented to meet these objectives, without excessive computational expense. This adaptive controller is as conservative as the linear designs and as effective as a global nonlinear controller. The method is successfully implemented for the full-envelope control of a six-degree-of-freedom aircraft simulation. The results show that the on-line adaptation brings about improved performance with respect to the initialization phase during aircraft maneuvers that involve large-angle and coupled dynamics, and parameter variations.

Adaptive and neuroadaptive control for nonnegative and compartmental dynamical systems

Science.gov (United States)

Volyanskyy, Kostyantyn Y.

Neural networks have been extensively used for adaptive system identification as well as adaptive and neuroadaptive control of highly uncertain systems. The goal of adaptive and neuroadaptive control is to achieve system performance without excessive reliance on system models. To improve robustness and the speed of adaptation of adaptive and neuroadaptive controllers several controller architectures have been proposed in the literature. In this dissertation, we develop a new neuroadaptive control architecture for nonlinear uncertain dynamical systems. The proposed framework involves a novel controller architecture with additional terms in the update laws that are constructed using a moving window of the integrated system uncertainty. These terms can be used to identify the ideal system weights of the neural network as well as effectively suppress system uncertainty. Linear and nonlinear parameterizations of the system uncertainty are considered and state and output feedback neuroadaptive controllers are developed. Furthermore, we extend the developed framework to discrete-time dynamical systems. To illustrate the efficacy of the proposed approach we apply our results to an aircraft model with wing rock dynamics, a spacecraft model with unknown moment of inertia, and an unmanned combat aerial vehicle undergoing actuator failures, and compare our results with standard neuroadaptive control methods. Nonnegative systems are essential in capturing the behavior of a wide range of dynamical systems involving dynamic states whose values are nonnegative. A sub-class of nonnegative dynamical systems are compartmental systems. These systems are derived from mass and energy balance considerations and are comprised of homogeneous interconnected microscopic subsystems or compartments which exchange variable quantities of material via intercompartmental flow laws. In this dissertation, we develop direct adaptive and neuroadaptive control framework for stabilization, disturbance

Chemistry, manufacturing and controls in passive transdermal drug delivery systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Goswami, Tarun; Audett, Jay

2015-01-01

Transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS) are used for the delivery of the drugs through the skin into the systemic circulation by applying them to the intact skin. The development of TDDS is a complex and multidisciplinary affair which involves identification of suitable drug, excipients and various other components. There have been numerous problems reported with respect to TDDS quality and performance. These problems can be reduced by appropriately addressing chemistry, manufacturing and controls requirements, which would thereby result in development of robust TDDS product and processes. This article provides recommendations on the chemistry, manufacturing and controls focusing on the unique technical aspects of TDDS.

Active structural acoustic control of noise transmission through double panel systems

Science.gov (United States)

Carneal, James P.; Fuller, Chris R.

1995-04-01

A preliminary parametric study of active control of sound transmission through double panel systems has been experimentally performed. The technique used is the active structural acoustic control (ASAC) approach where control inputs, in the form of piezoelectric actuators, were applied to the structure while the radiated pressure field was minimized. Results indicate the application of control inputs to the radiating panel resulted in greater transmission loss due to its direct effect on the nature of the structural-acoustic coupling between the radiating panel and the receiving chamber. Increased control performance was seen in a double panel system consisting of a stiffer radiating panel with a lower modal density. As expected, more effective control of a radiating panel excited on-resonance is achieved over one excited off-resonance. In general, the results validate the ASAC approach for double panel systems and demonstrate that it is possible to take advantage of double panel behavior to enhance control performance, although it is clear that further research must be done to understand the physics involved.

A Real-Time Embedded Control System for Electro-Fused Magnesia Furnace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fang Zheng

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Since smelting process of electro-fused magnesia furnace is a complicated process which has characteristics like complex operation conditions, strong nonlinearities, and strong couplings, traditional linear controller cannot control it very well. Advanced intelligent control strategy is a good solution to this kind of industrial process. However, advanced intelligent control strategy always involves huge programming task and hard debugging and maintaining problems. In this paper, a real-time embedded control system is proposed for the process control of electro-fused magnesia furnace based on intelligent control strategy and model-based design technology. As for hardware, an embedded controller based on an industrial Single Board Computer (SBC is developed to meet industrial field environment demands. As for software, a Linux based on Real-Time Application Interface (RTAI is used as the real-time kernel of the controller to improve its real-time performance. The embedded software platform is also modified to support generating embedded code automatically from Simulink/Stateflow models. Based on the proposed embedded control system, the intelligent embedded control software of electro-fused magnesium furnace can be directly generated from Simulink/Stateflow models. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed embedded control system, hardware-in-the-loop (HIL and industrial field experiments are both implemented. Experiments results show that the embedded control system works very well in both laboratory and industry environments.

LPV gain-scheduled control of SCR aftertreatment systems

Science.gov (United States)

Meisami-Azad, Mona; Mohammadpour, Javad; Grigoriadis, Karolos M.; Harold, Michael P.; Franchek, Matthew A.

2012-01-01

Hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and some of other polluting emissions produced by diesel engines are usually lower than those produced by gasoline engines. While great strides have been made in the exhaust aftertreatment of vehicular pollutants, the elimination of nitrogen oxide (NO x ) from diesel vehicles is still a challenge. The primary reason is that diesel combustion is a fuel-lean process, and hence there is significant unreacted oxygen in the exhaust. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is a well-developed technology for power plants and has been recently employed for reducing NO x emissions from automotive sources and in particular, heavy-duty diesel engines. In this article, we develop a linear parameter-varying (LPV) feedforward/feedback control design method for the SCR aftertreatment system to decrease NO x emissions while keeping ammonia slippage to a desired low level downstream the catalyst. The performance of the closed-loop system obtained from the interconnection of the SCR system and the output feedback LPV control strategy is then compared with other control design methods including sliding mode, and observer-based static state-feedback parameter-varying control. To reduce the computational complexity involved in the control design process, the number of LPV parameters in the developed quasi-LPV (qLPV) model is reduced by applying the principal component analysis technique. An LPV feedback/feedforward controller is then designed for the qLPV model with reduced number of scheduling parameters. The designed full-order controller is further simplified to a first-order transfer function with a parameter-varying gain and pole. Finally, simulation results using both a low-order model and a high-fidelity and high-order model of SCR reactions in GT-POWER interfaced with MATLAB/SIMULINK illustrate the high NO x conversion efficiency of the closed-loop SCR system using the proposed parameter-varying control law.

Modeling and control of an unstable system using probabilistic fuzzy inference system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sozhamadevi N.

2015-09-01

Full Text Available A new type Fuzzy Inference System is proposed, a Probabilistic Fuzzy Inference system which model and minimizes the effects of statistical uncertainties. The blend of two different concepts, degree of truth and probability of truth in a unique framework leads to this new concept. This combination is carried out both in Fuzzy sets and Fuzzy rules, which gives rise to Probabilistic Fuzzy Sets and Probabilistic Fuzzy Rules. Introducing these probabilistic elements, a distinctive probabilistic fuzzy inference system is developed and this involves fuzzification, inference and output processing. This integrated approach accounts for all of the uncertainty like rule uncertainties and measurement uncertainties present in the systems and has led to the design which performs optimally after training. In this paper a Probabilistic Fuzzy Inference System is applied for modeling and control of a highly nonlinear, unstable system and also proved its effectiveness.

Model predictive control for a thermostatic controlled system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shafiei, Seyed Ehsan; Rasmussen, Henrik; Stoustrup, Jakob

2013-01-01

This paper proposes a model predictive control scheme to provide temperature set-points to thermostatic controlled cooling units in refrigeration systems. The control problem is formulated as a convex programming problem to minimize the overall operating cost of the system. The foodstuff temperat......This paper proposes a model predictive control scheme to provide temperature set-points to thermostatic controlled cooling units in refrigeration systems. The control problem is formulated as a convex programming problem to minimize the overall operating cost of the system. The foodstuff...

Operational Performance Risk Assessment in Support of A Supervisory Control System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Denning, Richard S. [Self Employed; Muhlheim, Michael David [ORNL; Cetiner, Sacit M. [ORNL; Guler Yigitoglu, Askin [ORNL

2017-06-01

Supervisory control system (SCS) is developed for multi-unit advanced small modular reactors to minimize human interventions in both normal and abnormal operations. In SCS, control action decisions made based on probabilistic risk assessment approach via Event Trees/Fault Trees. Although traditional PRA tools are implemented, their scope is extended to normal operations and application is reversed; success of non-safety related system instead failure of safety systems this extended PRA approach called as operational performance risk assessment (OPRA). OPRA helps to identify success paths, combination of control actions for transients and to quantify these success paths to provide possible actions without activating plant protection system. In this paper, a case study of the OPRA in supervisory control system is demonstrated within the context of the ALMR PRISM design, specifically power conversion system. The scenario investigated involved a condition that the feed water control valve is observed to be drifting to the closed position. Alternative plant configurations were identified via OPRA that would allow the plant to continue to operate at full or reduced power. Dynamic analyses were performed with a thermal-hydraulic model of the ALMR PRISM system using Modelica to evaluate remained safety margins. Successful recovery paths for the selected scenario are identified and quantified via SCS.

Decoherence control in open quantum systems via classical feedback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganesan, Narayan; Tarn, Tzyh-Jong

2007-01-01

In this work we propose a strategy using techniques from systems theory to completely eliminate decoherence and also provide conditions under which it can be done. A construction employing an auxiliary system, the bait, which is instrumental to decoupling the system from the environment is presented. Our approach to decoherence control in contrast to other approaches in the literature involves the bilinear input affine model of quantum control system which lends itself to various techniques from classical control theory, but with nontrivial modifications to the quantum regime. The elegance of this approach yields interesting results on open loop decouplability and decoherence free subspaces. Additionally, the feedback control of decoherence may be related to disturbance decoupling for classical input affine systems, which entails careful application of the methods by avoiding all the quantum mechanical pitfalls. In the process of calculating a suitable feedback the system must be restructured due to its tensorial nature of interaction with the environment, which is unique to quantum systems. In the subsequent section we discuss a general information extraction scheme to gain knowledge of the state and the amount of decoherence based on indirect continuous measurement. The analysis of continuous measurement on a decohering quantum system has not been extensively studied before. Finally, a methodology to synthesize feedback parameters itself is given, that technology permitting, could be implemented for practical 2-qubit systems to perform decoherence free quantum computing. The results obtained are qualitatively different and superior to the ones obtained via master equations

The New Control and Interlock System for the SPS Main Power Converters

CERN Document Server

Denis, B; Mugnier, C; Varas, J

1999-01-01

The Control and Interlock System (CIS) of the SPS main power converters was designed in the mid-70s and became increasingly difficult to maintain. A new system based on Programmable Logic Controllers has been developed by an external contractor in close collaboration with CERN. The system is now operational and fully integrated in the SPS/LEP control infrastructure. The CIS is the first major contracted industrial solution used to control accelerator equipment directly involved in the production of particle beams at CERN. This paper gives an overview of the SPS main power converter installation and describes both the contractual and technical solution adopted for the CIS. It first explains how the system was specified and how the contractual relationship was defined to respect CERN’s purchasing rules and the operational requirements of the SPS accelerator. The architectural design of the new system is presented with special emphasis on how the conflict between safety and availability has been addressed.

Stakeholder involvement in the evaluation of a multipurpose canister system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, J.R.; Kane, D.; Smith, T.B. Jr.

1994-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), began evaluating a multipurpose canister (MPC) concept in October of 1992. This followed recommendations by the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that DOE develop a nuclear waste management system that achieves system integration, standardization, and reduced fuel-handling operations. Industry organizations such as Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) had conducted earlier studies that concluded advantages to the nuclear waste management system may be offered by such a concept. The MPC concept involves a metal canister which would contain multiple spent nuclear fuel assemblies. The canister would be sealed at the nuclear power plant and would not be reopened. The MPC would then be placed inside separate casks or overpacks for storage, transportation, and disposal. An important factor in DOE's evaluation of the MPC concept was the involvement of external parties. This paper describes that involvement process for the OCRWM's MPC implementation program. External parties who have an interest or stake in the program are referred to as stakeholders

Development of a Control Systems Platform for an Autonomous Soft-Car

OpenAIRE

Ray, Pratish

2015-01-01

Balloon Cars (Soft Cars) used for active-system testing are presently statically following one specific path. Autonomous GPS driven balloon cars can be extremely useful if made to be accurate.Volvo group’s long term plan involves usage of such cars to improve active-safety systems. Thisreport presents comprehensive details about the development of the control system of the soft-car.Software development was preceded by purchase of parts. Detailed descriptions of the ballooncar hardware compone...

Positioning and tracking control system analysis for mobile free space optical network

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yushan; Refai, Hazem; Sluss, , James J., Jr.; Verma, Pramode; LoPresti, Peter

2005-08-01

Free Space Optical (FSO) communication has evolved to be applied to the mobile network, because it can provide up to 2.5Gbps or higher data rate wireless communication. One of the key challenges with FSO systems is to maintain the Line of Sight (LOS) between transmitter and receiver. In this paper, the feasibility and performance of applying the FSO technology to the mobile network is explored, and the design plan of the attitude positioning and tracking control system of the FSO transceiver is investigated. First, the system architecture is introduced, the requirements for the control system are analyzed, the involved reference frames and frame transformation are presented. Second, the control system bandwidth is used to evaluate the system performance in controlling a positioning system consisting of a gimbal and a steering mirror, some definitions to describe the positioning accuracy and tracking capacity are given. The attitude control of a FSO transceiver is split into 2 similar channels: pitch and yaw. Using an equivalent linear control system model, the simulations are carried out, with and without the presence of uncertainties that includes GPS data errors and sensor measurement errors. Finally, based on the simulation results in the pitch channel, the quantitative evaluation on the performance of the control system is given, including positioning accuracy, tracking capability and uncertainty tolerance.

Development of master slave system for interventional radiology with force-rate control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ide, Masaru; Zobel, P.B.; Claudio, P.D.; Mohri, Makoto; Komeda, Takashi

2010-01-01

The objective of this study is to develop a master-slave system for a catheter-guided operation, which is performed by using radiology, through the vascular system. When the master-slave system is used, the surgeon is not exposed to x-rays during the operation. The master tool is managed by an operator away from the slave tool, which is near the patient. The system must provide a realistic picture to the surgeon, particularly in term of force information because this operation is performed by observing three-dimensional fields on a two-dimensional monitor. In this paper, we describe the development of a master slave system that involves the use of force-rate control for guiding the catheter without using force sensors. The master tool has a force-display function. This system can be controlled by force and velocity controlling; hence, this system realized an innovative mechanism and algorism. Finally, the preliminary experiment indicated that the new control method was effective. Further, the force display was stable and achieved fast response. (author)

Design requirements for SRB production control system. Volume 4: Implementation

Science.gov (United States)

1981-01-01

The implementation plan which is presented was developed to provide the means for the successful implementation of the automated production control system. There are three factors which the implementation plan encompasses: detailed planning; phased implementation; and user involvement. The plan is detailed to the task level in terms of necessary activities as the system is developed, refined, installed, and tested. These tasks are scheduled, on a preliminary basis, over a two-and-one-half-year time frame.

Automotive engine air intake system with variable noise control

Science.gov (United States)

Moenssen, David J.; Hellie, Mark D.; Koston, John D.; Shaw, Christopher E.

2005-09-01

Engine air intake systems are routinely tasked with delivering a specific target sound which involves meeting an overall noise level and, in many cases, desired frequency content over the entire engine speed range. In order to meet these targets, it is generally necessary to incorporate one or more reactive tuning devices, such as Helmholtz resonators, into the intake system. Traditional devices provide deep attenuation at their designed frequency, but they also introduce undesirable sideband resonances at a higher and a lower frequency. Even after the addition of several devices, it may still not be possible to match the desired intake noise targets due to their deep attenuation and sideband amplification. The subject of this work is to introduce an electronically controlled variable noise control (VNC) device for engine air intake systems which is capable of adjusting the air intake system's frequency response as commanded by the engine operating conditions. The VNC device permits the desired amount of attenuation of peaks in the air intake noise without introducing undesirable sideband resonances. In addition, because the tuning is controlled electronically, the VNC device can deliver a target-specific response using the same hardware across multiple vehicle programs.

Charge-transfer collisions involving few-electron systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchner, T.

2016-01-01

Ion-atom collision systems that involve more than one electron constitute nonseparable few-body problems, whose full solution is difficult to say the least. At impact energies well below 1 keV/amu an expansion of the stationary scattering wave function in terms of a limited number of products of nuclear and molecular state wave functions (amended to satisfy scattering boundary conditions) is feasible and usually sufficient to obtain accurate charge-transfer cross sections provided the electronic wave functions include configuration interaction. At energies above 1 keV/amu this approach becomes inefficient and close-coupling methods within the semi classical approximation are better suited to treat the problem. For bare-ion collisions from helium target atoms explicit solutions of the two-electron time-dependent Schrödinger equation can be achieved, but are computationally costly and cannot be extended to problems which involve more than two electrons.

Plug-and-Play Control – Modifying Control Systems Online

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendtsen, Jan Dimon; Trangbæk, K; Stoustrup, Jakob

2013-01-01

Often, when new sensor or actuator hardware be- comes available for use in a control system, it is desirable to retain the existing control system and apply the new control capabilities in a gradual fashion rather than decommissioning the entire existing system and replacing it with an altogether...... new control system. However, this requires that the existing controller remains in action, and the new control law component is added to the existing system. This paper formally introduces the concept of Plug-and-Play control and proposes two different methods of introducing new control components...

Networked control of microgrid system of systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmoud, Magdi S.; Rahman, Mohamed Saif Ur; AL-Sunni, Fouad M.

2016-08-01

The microgrid has made its mark in distributed generation and has attracted widespread research. However, microgrid is a complex system which needs to be viewed from an intelligent system of systems perspective. In this paper, a network control system of systems is designed for the islanded microgrid system consisting of three distributed generation units as three subsystems supplying a load. The controller stabilises the microgrid system in the presence of communication infractions such as packet dropouts and delays. Simulation results are included to elucidate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Integration of the virtual 3D model of a control system with the virtual controller

Science.gov (United States)

Herbuś, K.; Ociepka, P.

2015-11-01

Nowadays the design process includes simulation analysis of different components of a constructed object. It involves the need for integration of different virtual object to simulate the whole investigated technical system. The paper presents the issues related to the integration of a virtual 3D model of a chosen control system of with a virtual controller. The goal of integration is to verify the operation of an adopted object of in accordance with the established control program. The object of the simulation work is the drive system of a tunneling machine for trenchless work. In the first stage of work was created an interactive visualization of functioning of the 3D virtual model of a tunneling machine. For this purpose, the software of the VR (Virtual Reality) class was applied. In the elaborated interactive application were created adequate procedures allowing controlling the drive system of a translatory motion, a rotary motion and the drive system of a manipulator. Additionally was created the procedure of turning on and off the output crushing head, mounted on the last element of the manipulator. In the elaborated interactive application have been established procedures for receiving input data from external software, on the basis of the dynamic data exchange (DDE), which allow controlling actuators of particular control systems of the considered machine. In the next stage of work, the program on a virtual driver, in the ladder diagram (LD) language, was created. The control program was developed on the basis of the adopted work cycle of the tunneling machine. The element integrating the virtual model of the tunneling machine for trenchless work with the virtual controller is the application written in a high level language (Visual Basic). In the developed application was created procedures responsible for collecting data from the running, in a simulation mode, virtual controller and transferring them to the interactive application, in which is verified the

Classification system for reporting events involving human malfunctions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jens; Pedersen, O.M.; Mancini, G.

1981-01-01

The report describes a set of categories for reporting indus-trial incidents and events involving human malfunction. The classification system aims at ensuring information adequate for improvement of human work situations and man-machine interface systems and for attempts to quantify "human error......" rates. The classification system has a multifacetted non-hierarchical struc-ture and its compatibility with Isprals ERDS classification is described. The collection of the information in general and for quantification purposes are discussed. 24 categories, 12 of which being human factors oriented......, are listed with their respective subcategories, and comments are given. Underlying models of human data processes and their typical malfunc-tions and of a human decision sequence are described....

Classification system for reporting events involving human malfunctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasmussen, J.; Pedersen, O.M.; Mancini, G.; Carnino, A.; Griffon, M.; Gagnolet, P.

1981-03-01

The report describes a set of categories for reporting industrial incidents and events involving human malfunction. The classification system aims at ensuring information adequate for improvement of human work situations and man-machine interface systems and for attempts to quantify ''human error'' rates. The classification system has a multifacetted non-hierarchial structure and its compatibility with Ispra's ERDS classification is described. The collection of the information in general and for quantification purposes are discussed. 24 categories, 12 of which being human factors oriented, are listed with their respective subcategories, and comments are given. Underlying models of human data processes and their typical malfunctions and of a human decision sequence are described. (author)

Controlling chaotic systems via nonlinear feedback control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Ju H.

2005-01-01

In this article, a new method to control chaotic systems is proposed. Using Lyapunov method, we design a nonlinear feedback controller to make the controlled system be stabilized. A numerical example is given to illuminate the design procedure and advantage of the result derived

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...

A monitor for the laboratory evaluation of control integrity in digital control systems operating in harsh electromagnetic environments

Science.gov (United States)

Belcastro, Celeste M.; Fischl, Robert; Kam, Moshe

1992-01-01

This paper presents a strategy for dynamically monitoring digital controllers in the laboratory for susceptibility to electromagnetic disturbances that compromise control integrity. The integrity of digital control systems operating in harsh electromagnetic environments can be compromised by upsets caused by induced transient electrical signals. Digital system upset is a functional error mode that involves no component damage, can occur simultaneously in all channels of a redundant control computer, and is software dependent. The motivation for this work is the need to develop tools and techniques that can be used in the laboratory to validate and/or certify critical aircraft controllers operating in electromagnetically adverse environments that result from lightning, high-intensity radiated fields (HIRF), and nuclear electromagnetic pulses (NEMP). The detection strategy presented in this paper provides dynamic monitoring of a given control computer for degraded functional integrity resulting from redundancy management errors, control calculation errors, and control correctness/effectiveness errors. In particular, this paper discusses the use of Kalman filtering, data fusion, and statistical decision theory in monitoring a given digital controller for control calculation errors.

An object oriented framework of EPICS for MicroTCA based control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geng, Z.

2012-01-01

EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) is a distributed control system platform which has been widely used for large scientific devices control like particle accelerators and fusion plant. EPICS has introduced object oriented (C ++ ) interfaces to most of the core services. But the major part of EPICS, the run-time database, only provides C interfaces, which is hard to involve the EPICS record concerned data and routines in the object oriented architecture of the software. This paper presents an object oriented framework which contains some abstract classes to encapsulate the EPICS record concerned data and routines in C ++ classes so that full OOA (Objected Oriented Analysis) and OOD (Object Oriented Design) methodologies can be used for EPICS IOC design. We also present a dynamic device management scheme for the hot swap capability of the MicroTCA based control system. (authors)

Expert systems in process control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wittig, T.

1987-01-01

To illustrate where the fundamental difference between expert systems in classical diagnosis and in industrial control lie, the work of process control instrumentation is used as an example for the job of expert systems. Starting from the general process of problem-solving, two classes of expert systems can be defined accordingly. (orig.) [de

Pressure control modernization for DO2 supply system of the fuel machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ionescu, T.; Burla, I.; Vasilache, V.

2005-01-01

Full text: The analog controllers of the D 2 O Supply System (BSI-35260) were replaced at Cernavoda NPP U1 with a modern solution built on a new platform with powerful Fischer and Porter controllers. During two years of operating experience this new solution demonstrated its capabilities to work without any fault. This paper describes briefly the involved system, the hardware and software aspects of this solution, how the software solution was tested using the Full-Scope Simulator facilities and finally, results of the tests done in the real plant are discussed. (authors)

Migration of Older to New Digital Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plant Main Control Rooms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kovesdi, Casey Robert [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Joe, Jeffrey Clark [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2016-04-01

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) has the primary mission to advance nuclear power by resolving socio-technical issues through research and development (R&D). One DOE-NE activity supporting this mission is the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program. LWRS has the overall objective to sustain the operation of existing commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs) through conducting R&D across multiple “pathways,” or R&D focus areas. The Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control (II&C) Systems Technologies pathway conducts targeted R&D to address aging and reliability concerns with the legacy instrumentation and control (I&C) and related information systems in operating U.S. NPPs. This work involves (1) ensuring that legacy analog II&C systems are not life-limiting issues for the LWR fleet, and (2) implementing digital II&C technology in a manner that enables broad innovation and business improvement in the NPP operating model. Under the LWRS Advanced II&C pathway, Human Factors experts at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have been conducting R&D in support of NPP main control room (MCR) modernization activities. Work in prior years has focused on migrating analog I&C systems to new digital I&C systems (). In fiscal year 2016 (FY16), one new focus area for this research is migrating older digital I&C systems to new and advanced digital I&C systems. This report summarizes a plan for conducting a digital-to-digital migration of a legacy digital I&C system to a new digital I&C system in support of control room modernization activities.

Migration of Older to New Digital Control Systems in Nuclear Power Plant Main Control Rooms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovesdi, Casey Robert; Joe, Jeffrey Clark

2016-01-01

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) has the primary mission to advance nuclear power by resolving socio-technical issues through research and development (R&D). One DOE-NE activity supporting this mission is the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program. LWRS has the overall objective to sustain the operation of existing commercial nuclear power plants (NPPs) through conducting R&D across multiple ''pathways,'' or R&D focus areas. The Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control (II&C) Systems Technologies pathway conducts targeted R&D to address aging and reliability concerns with the legacy instrumentation and control (I&C) and related information systems in operating U.S. NPPs. This work involves (1) ensuring that legacy analog II&C systems are not life-limiting issues for the LWR fleet, and (2) implementing digital II&C technology in a manner that enables broad innovation and business improvement in the NPP operating model. Under the LWRS Advanced II&C pathway, Human Factors experts at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have been conducting R&D in support of NPP main control room (MCR) modernization activities. Work in prior years has focused on migrating analog I&C systems to new digital I&C systems (). In fiscal year 2016 (FY16), one new focus area for this research is migrating older digital I&C systems to new and advanced digital I&C systems. This report summarizes a plan for conducting a digital-to-digital migration of a legacy digital I&C system to a new digital I&C system in support of control room modernization activities.

Modernization of turbine control system and reactor control system in Almaraz 1 and 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pulido, C.; Diez, J.; Carrasco, J. A.; Lopez, L.

2005-01-01

The replacement of the Turbine Control System and Reactor Control System are part of the Almaraz modernization program for the Instrumentation and Control. For these upgrades Almaraz has selected the Ovation Platform that provides open architecture and easy expansion to other systems, these platforms is highly used in many nuclear and thermal plants around the world. One of the main objective for this project were to minimize the impact on the installation and operation of the plant, for that reason the project is implemented in two phases, Turbine Control upgrade and Reactor Control upgrade. Another important objective was to increase the reliability of the control system making them fully fault tolerant to single failures. The turbine Control System has been installed in Units 1 and 2 while the Reactor Control System will be installed in 2006 and 2007 outages. (Author)

Digital control system of advanced reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng Huaqing; Zhang Rui; Liu Lixin

2001-01-01

This article produced the Digital Control System For Advanced Reactor made by NPIC. This system uses Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 process control system and includes five control system: reactor power control system, pressurizer level control system, pressurizer pressure control system, steam generator water level control system and dump control system. This system uses three automatic station to realize the function of five control system. Because the safety requisition of reactor is very strict, the system is redundant. The system configuration uses CFC and SCL. the human-machine interface is configured by Wincc. Finally the system passed the test of simulation by using RETRAN 02 to simulate the control object. The research solved the key technology of digital control system of reactor and will be very helpful for the nationalization of digital reactor control system

Profile and Role of Woman Involvement in Dry System Pig Farming

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hartoko Hartoko

2004-01-01

Full Text Available This research was purposed to study the profile and role of woman involvement in dry system pig farming (pig housing with mattress from grass, pig manure, vegetable waste and kitchen waste.  The research was carried out from August to November 2003.  Pig housing areas were located on eight villages of Kertek District in Wonosobo Regency (Central Java.  The method applied was survey with intensive observation.  Sample were randomly selected, involved 180 respondents (15 percent of total pig farmers, while the locations of the sample were selected based on purposive sampling method.  The result showed that respondents were in productive age, with low formal education level. Most of all are Moslems (98% and they have small family size.  The level of woman involvement in pig farming was high, approximately 85 percent.  They have other income source and they involve in pig farming to help their husbands in generating income.  Experience in the dry system pig farming was quite long (more than 10 years and skill come from imitating their neighbours otherwise of autodidact. (Animal Production 6(1: 23-29 (2004   Key Words: Pig, Dry System, Woman Profile and Role

Test results of HTTR control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Motegi, Toshihiro; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Saito, Kenji; Sawahata, Hiroaki; Hirato, Yoji; Kondo, Makoto; Shibutani, Hideki; Ogawa, Satoru; Shinozaki, Masayuki; Mizushima, Toshihiko; Kawasaki, Kozo

2006-06-01

The plant control performance of the IHX helium flow rate control system, the PPWC helium flow rate control system, the secondary helium flow rate control system, the inlet temperature control system, the reactor power control system and the outlet temperature control system of the HTTR are obtained through function tests and power-up tests. As the test results, the control systems show stable control response under transient condition. Both of inlet temperature control system and reactor power control system shows stable operation from 30% to 100%, respectively. This report describes the outline of control systems and test results. (author)

The ILC control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carwardine, J.; Saunders, C.; Arnold, N.; Lenkszus, F.; Rehlich, K.; Simrock, S.; Banerjee, b.; Chase, B.; Gottschalk, E.; Joireman, P.; Kasley, P.; Lackey, S.; McBride, P.; Pavlicek, V.; Patrick, J.; Votava, M.; Wolbers, S.; Furukawa, K.; Michizono, S.; Larson, R.S.; Downing, R.

2007-01-01

Since the last ICALEPCS, a small multi-region team has developed a reference design model for a control system for the International Linear Collider as part of the ILC Global Design Effort. The scale and performance parameters of the ILC accelerator require new thinking in regards to control system design. Technical challenges include the large number of accelerator systems to be controlled, the large scale of the accelerator facility, the high degree of automation needed during accelerator operations, and control system equipment requiring 'Five Nines' availability. The R and D path for high availability touches the control system hardware, software, and overall architecture, and extends beyond traditional interfaces into the technical systems. Software considerations for HA include fault detection through exhaustive out-of-band monitoring and automatic state migration to redundant systems, while the telecom industry's emerging ATCA standard - conceived, specified, and designed for High Availability - is being evaluated for suitability for ILC front-end electronics.

Control system integration

CERN Document Server

Shea, T J

2008-01-01

This lecture begins with a definition of an accelerator control system, and then reviews the control system architectures that have been deployed at the larger accelerator facilities. This discussion naturally leads to identification of the major subsystems and their interfaces. We shall explore general strategies for integrating intelligent devices and signal processing subsystems based on gate arrays and programmable DSPs. The following topics will also be covered: physical packaging; timing and synchronization; local and global communication technologies; interfacing to machine protection systems; remote debugging; configuration management and source code control; and integration of commercial software tools. Several practical realizations will be presented.

ALFA Detector Control System

CERN Document Server

Oleiro Seabra, Luis Filipe; The ATLAS collaboration

2015-01-01

ALFA (Absolute Luminosity For ATLAS) is one of the sub-detectors of ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus). The ALFA system is composed by four stations installed in the LHC tunnel 240 m away from the ATLAS interaction point. Each station has a vacuum and ventilation system, movement control and all the required electronics for signal processing. The Detector Control System (DCS) provides control and monitoring of several components and ensures the safe operation of the detector contributing to good Data Quality. This paper describes the ALFA DCS system including a detector overview, operation aspects and hardware control through a SCADA system, WinCC OA.

ALFA Detector Control System

CERN Document Server

Oleiro Seabra, Luis Filipe; The ATLAS collaboration

2015-01-01

ALFA (Absolute Luminosity For ATLAS) is one of the sub-detectors of ATLAS/LHC. The ALFA system is composed by two stations installed in the LHC tunnel 240 m away from each side of the ATLAS interaction point. Each station has a vacuum and ventilation system, movement control and all the required electronic for signal processing. The Detector Control System (DCS) provides control and monitoring of several components and ensures the safe operation of the detector contributing to good Data Quality. This paper describes the ALFA DCS system including a detector overview, operation aspects and hardware control through a SCADA system, WinCC OA.

Multiple myeloma and central nervous system involvement: experience of a Brazilian center

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Luiza Miranda Silva Dias

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The estimated involvement of the central nervous system in patients with multiple myeloma is rare at about 1%. The infiltration can be identified at the time multiple myeloma is diagnosed or during its progression. However, it is more common in refractory disease or during relapse. Methods: This retrospective cohort study reviewed data from medical records of patients followed up at the Gammopathy Outpatient Clinic of Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo from January 2008 to December 2016. Results: Twenty patients were included, with a median follow-up of 33.5 months after central nervous system infiltration. The prevalence was 7%. The median age at diagnosis of multiple myeloma was 56.1 years, with 70% of participants being female. Sixteen patients had central nervous system infiltration at diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Seventeen patients had exclusive osteodural lesions and three had infiltrations of the leptomeninge, of which one had exclusive involvement and two had associated osteodural lesions. The median overall survival was 40.3 months after central nervous system involvement. The median overall survival in the group with central nervous system infiltration at relapse was 7.4 months. The patients with leptomeningeal involvement had a median overall survival of 5.8 months. Conclusion: Central nervous system infiltration is a rare condition, but it should be considered as a possibility in patients with multiple myeloma and neurological symptoms. The best treatment regimen for this condition remains unknown and, in most cases, the prognosis is unfavorable. Keywords: Central nervous system, Multiple myeloma, Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, Prognosis

The CEBAF control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, W.A. III.

1995-01-01

CEBAF has recently upgraded its accelerator control system to use EPICS, a control system toolkit being developed by a collaboration among laboratories in the US and Europe. The migration to EPICS has taken place during a year of intense commissioning activity, with new and old control systems operating concurrently. Existing CAMAC hardware was preserved by adding a CAMAC serial highway link to VME; newer hardware developments are now primarily in VME. Software is distributed among three tiers of computers: first, workstations and X terminals for operator interfaces and high level applications; second, VME single board computers for distributed access to hardware and for local control processing; third, embedded processors where needed for faster closed loop operation. This system has demonstrated the ability to scale EPICS to controlling thousands of devices, including hundreds of embedded processors, with control distributed among dozens of VME processors executing more than 125,000 EPICS database records. To deal with the large size of the control system, CEBAF has integrated an object oriented database, providing data management capabilities for both low level I/O and high level machine modeling. A new callable interface which is control system independent permits access to live EPICS data, data in other Unix processes, and data contained in the object oriented database

Output controllability of nonlinear systems with bounded control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, Rafael; D'Attellis, Carlos

1990-01-01

The control problem treated in this paper is the output controllability of a nonlinear system in the form: x = f(x) + g(x)u(t); y = h(x), using bounded controls. The approach to the problem consists of a modification in the system using dynamic feedback in such a way that the input/output behaviour of the closed loop matches the input/output behaviour of a completely output-controllable system with bounded controls. Sufficient conditions are also put forward on the system so that a compact set in the output space may be reached in finite time using uniformally bounded controls, and a result on output regulation in finite time with asymptotic state stabilization is obtained. (Author)

Why business unit controllers create budget slack: Involvement in management, social pressure, and Machiavellianism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hartmann, F.G.H.; Maas, V.S.

2010-01-01

This paper investigates business unit (BU) controllers’ inclination to engage in the creation of budgetary slack. In particular, we explore whether controllers who are involved in BU decision making are more susceptible to social pressure to engage in slack creation than controllers who are not. We

Involvement of the central nervous system in myotonic dystrophy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukui, Ritsuko; Tobimatsu, Shozo; Kuroiwa, Yoshigoro; Iwashita, Hiroshi; Kato, Motohiro.

1985-01-01

In order to evaluate the central nervous system involvement in myotonic dystrophy, intelligence quotient (IQ), brain CT scan, EEG and pattern-reversal visual evoked potential (VEP) were analyzed in 10 patients with myotonic dystrophy. Impaired intelligence was observed in 9 out of 10 patients, abnormal brain CT in 7, and EEG abnormality in 7. The brain CT showed a diffuse cortical atrophy, a dilatation of the ventricles, and a periventricular lucency, mainly around the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle. The EEG findings showed a tendency toward generalized slowing of the background activity. These abnormal findings were well related to the clinical severity of MD, indicating that there is a diffuse cerebral involvement in the majority of the MD patients. VEP showed a prolonged P100 latency in 5 out of 10 patints, or 7 out of 19 eyes examined. These prolonged latency of the P100 component was considered to be due to dysfunctions of the visual pathway in the cerebral hemisphere, rather than due to cataracts and retinal dysfunctions because it was observed only in moderate and severe cases. These severe and moderate cases showed abnormalities in all four examinations. It was concluded that combination of different parameters might be useful to evaluate the central nervous system involvement in patients with MD. (author)

SPring-8 beamline control system.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohata, T; Konishi, H; Kimura, H; Furukawa, Y; Tamasaku, K; Nakatani, T; Tanabe, T; Matsumoto, N; Ishii, M; Ishikawa, T

1998-05-01

The SPring-8 beamline control system is now taking part in the control of the insertion device (ID), front end, beam transportation channel and all interlock systems of the beamline: it will supply a highly standardized environment of apparatus control for collaborative researchers. In particular, ID operation is very important in a third-generation synchrotron light source facility. It is also very important to consider the security system because the ID is part of the storage ring and is therefore governed by the synchrotron ring control system. The progress of computer networking systems and the technology of security control require the development of a highly flexible control system. An interlock system that is independent of the control system has increased the reliability. For the beamline control system the so-called standard model concept has been adopted. VME-bus (VME) is used as the front-end control system and a UNIX workstation as the operator console. CPU boards of the VME-bus are RISC processor-based board computers operated by a LynxOS-based HP-RT real-time operating system. The workstation and the VME are linked to each other by a network, and form the distributed system. The HP 9000/700 series with HP-UX and the HP 9000/743rt series with HP-RT are used. All the controllable apparatus may be operated from any workstation.

Radiologically detectable musculoskeletal involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jimenez, M. M.; Manjon, P.; Diaz de Bustamante, T.; Galindo, M.; Buj, M. J.; Cabezudo, J.

2000-01-01

We show a wide spectrum of musculoskeletal involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that can be detected by radiological examination. We determined the indications of different imaging techniques in the diagnosis and follow-up of this disease. We reviewed the clinical and radiological histories of 37 patients diagnosed as having SLE on the basis of serological and musculoskeletal criteria. We assessed the personal data of each patient, the association of the disease with autoimmune processes, serology, treatment and radiological findings using plain X ray, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR). Of the 37 cases reviewed, only ten presented changes in one or more of the imaging studies performed. the most common radiological finding was symmetric poly arthritis located at different sites. Other signs included avascular necrosis (late and early), inflammation and tendon and/or ligament rupture, nonerosive deforming arthropathies , soft tissue calcifications and arthritis (staphylococcal and tuberculous). A direct correlation was established between the anticardiolipin antibody titer, steroid doses and avascular necrosis. In SLE, radiologically detectable osteoarticular lesions are uncommon. Symmetric polyarthritis is the earliest lesion and that occurring most frequently. Other signs do not appear as often, with the exception of osteonecrosis, which usually occurs late. It developed early and was unusually aggressive in two youths with elevated anticardiolipin antibody titers and substantial systemic involvement in our series. The contributions of ultrasound and MR in the assessment of musculoskeletal involvement in SLE are especially relevant in the study of inflammations and tendon rupture and in the management of avascular necrosis, respectively. (Author) 17 refs

Development of an access control system for the LHD experimental hall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawano, T.; Inoue, N.; Sakuma, Y.; Uda, T.; Yamanishi, H.; Miyake, H.; Tanahashi, S.; Motozima, O.

2000-01-01

An access control system for the LHD (Large Helical Device) experimental hall had been constructed and its practical operation started in March 1998. Continuously, the system has been improved. The present system keeps watch on involved entrance and exit for the use of persons at four entrances by using five turnstile gates while watching on eight shielding doors at eight positions (four entrances, three carriage entrances and a hall overview) and a stairway connecting the LHD main hall with the LHD basement. Besides, for the security of safety operation of the LHD, fifteen kinds of interlock signals are exchanged between the access control system and the LHD control system. Seven of the interlock signals are properly sent as the occasional demands from the access control system to the LHD control system, in which three staple signals are B Personnel Access to Controlled Area, D Shielding Door Closed, and E No Entrance. It is important that any plasma experiments of the LHD are not permitted while the signal B being sent or D being not sent. The signal E is sent to inform the LHD control system that the turnstile gates are locked. All the plasma experiments should not be done unless the lock procedure of the turnstile is confirmed. When the turnstile gates are locked, any persons cannot enter into the LHD controlled area, but are permissible to exit only. Six of the interlock signals are used to send the information of the working at that time in the LHD controlled area to the access control system. When one signal of the operation mode is sent to the access control system from the LHD, the access control system sets the turnstile gate in situation corresponding to the operation mode, A Equipment Operation, B Vacuum Pumping, C Coil Cooling, D Coil Excitation, and E Plasma Experiment. If the access control system receives, for example, the signal B, this system sets the turnstile gate in the condition of control such that only persons assigned to the work of vacuum

Automatic Generation of Supervisory Control System Software Using Graph Composition

Science.gov (United States)

Nakata, Hideo; Sano, Tatsuro; Kojima, Taizo; Seo, Kazuo; Uchida, Tomoyuki; Nakamura, Yasuaki

This paper describes the automatic generation of system descriptions for SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems. The proposed method produces various types of data and programs for SCADA systems from equipment definitions using conversion rules. At first, this method makes directed graphs, which represent connections between the equipment, from equipment definitions. System descriptions are generated using the conversion rules, by analyzing these directed graphs, and finding the groups of equipment that involve similar operations. This method can make the conversion rules multi levels by using the composition of graphs, and can reduce the number of rules. The developer can define and manage these rules efficiently.

Closed-loop response properties of a visual interneuron involved in fly optomotor control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naveed eEjaz

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Due to methodological limitations neural function is mostly studied under open-loop conditions. Normally, however, nervous systems operate in closed-loop where sensory input is processed to generate behavioural outputs, which again change the sensory input. Here, we investigate the closed-loop responses of an identified visual interneuron, the blowfly H1-cell, that is part of a neural circuit involved in optomotor flight and gaze control. Those behaviours may be triggered by attitude changes during flight in turbulent air. The fly analyses the resulting retinal image shifts and performs compensatory body and head rotations to regain its default attitude. We developed a fly-robot interface to study H1-cell responses in a 1 degree-of-freedom image stabilization task. Image shifts, induced by externally forced rotations, modulate the cell’s spike rate that controls counter rotations of a mobile robot to minimize relative motion between the robot and its visual surroundings. A feedback controller closed the loop between neural activity and the rotation of the robot. Under these conditions we found the following H1-cell response properties: (i the peak spike rate decreases when the mean image velocity is increased, (ii the relationship between spike rate and image velocity depends on the standard deviation of the image velocities suggesting adaptive scaling of the cell’s signalling range, and (iii the cell’s gain decreases linearly with increasing image accelerations.Our results reveal a remarkable qualitative similarity between the response dynamics of the H1-cell under closed-loop conditions with those obtained in previous open-loop experiments. Finally, we show that the adaptive scaling of the H1-cell’s responses, while maximizing information on image velocity, decreases the cell’s sensitivity to image accelerations. Understanding such trade-offs in biological vision systems may advance the design of smart vision sensors for autonomous

Specific oxidative stress parameters differently correlate with nailfold capillaroscopy changes and organ involvement in systemic sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Riccieri, Valeria; Spadaro, Antonio; Fuksa, Leos; Firuzi, Omidreza; Saso, Luciano; Valesini, Guido

2008-02-01

Oxidative stress is suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc). The aim of the present study was to clarify such a hypothesis by determination of four different plasmatic parameters of oxidative stress, and to define its role in the microvascular damage, assessed by nailfold capillaroscopy (NC). Plasma samples of 18 patients with SSc were analyzed. The biomarkers measured were: total antioxidant capacity, hydroperoxides (ROOHs), and sulfhydryl (SH) and carbonyl (CO) groups. Each patient had a detailed clinical assessment and underwent an NC. The results showed significantly increased ROOHs in SSc patients compared to control group (5.02 +/- 0.24 vs 3.28 +/- 0.19 micromol/l; p capillaroscopy semiquantitative rating scale score (p < 0.05) and with the rating system for avascular areas (p < 0.03). The levels of CO groups inversely correlated with modified Rodnan's skin score (p < 0.039) and were lower in patients with pulmonary fibrosis (p < 0.045), while the levels of SH groups were lower in those presenting gastrointestinal involvement (p < 0.029). The obtained data indicate augmented free radical-mediated injury in SSc and also show correlations among oxidative abnormalities, some clinical findings, and signs of a more severe microvascular involvement. These results give more evidence to the connection between oxidative impairment and SSc.

Tribal and stakeholder involvement in systems analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClure, L.; Swartz, G.; Cooley, C.

1997-01-01

Beginning in early 1995, U.S. Department of Energy began an experiment to link tribal and stakeholder representatives into technology assessment activities related to an Integrated Nonthermal Treatment System (INTS) study. The INTS study moved outside the framework of after-the-fact public involvement by providing the opportunity for technical and non-technical stakeholders alike to work together in the early predecision stages of the criteria development and assessment of options for innovative mixed waste treatment. The stakeholders gained an appreciation of the intense level of effort required to complete such an analysis. The engineers and scientists conducting the systems analyses had the opportunity (some for the first time) to learn more about tribal and stakeholder issues and how they might apply to the technical tasks related to technology assessment and selection

Nontrivial Solution of Fractional Differential System Involving Riemann-Stieltjes Integral Condition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ge-Feng Yang

2012-01-01

differential system involving the Riemann-Stieltjes integral condition, by using the Leray-Schauder nonlinear alternative and the Banach contraction mapping principle, some sufficient conditions of the existence and uniqueness of a nontrivial solution of a system are obtained.

The APS control system network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sidorowicz, K.V.; McDowell, W.P.

1995-01-01

The APS accelerator control system is a distributed system consisting of operator interfaces, a network, and computer-controlled interfaces to hardware. This implementation of a control system has come to be called the open-quotes Standard Model.close quotes The operator interface is a UNDC-based workstation with an X-windows graphical user interface. The workstation may be located at any point on the facility network and maintain full functionality. The function of the network is to provide a generalized communication path between the host computers, operator workstations, input/output crates, and other hardware that comprise the control system. The crate or input/output controller (IOC) provides direct control and input/output interfaces for each accelerator subsystem. The network is an integral part of all modem control systems and network performance will determine many characteristics of a control system. This paper will describe the overall APS network and examine the APS control system network in detail. Metrics are provided on the performance of the system under various conditions

Personal exposure control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanabe, Ken-ichi; Akashi, Michio

1994-01-01

Nuclear power stations are under strict radiation control. Exposure control for nuclear workers is the most important operation, and so carefully thought out measures are taken. This paper introduces Fuji Electric's personal exposure control system that meets strict exposure control and rationalizes control operations. The system has a merit that it can provide required information in an optimum form using the interconnection of a super minicomputer and exposure control facilities and realizes sophisticated exposure control operations. (author)

Hybrid spacecraft attitude control system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renuganth Varatharajoo

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The hybrid subsystem design could be an attractive approach for futurespacecraft to cope with their demands. The idea of combining theconventional Attitude Control System and the Electrical Power System ispresented in this article. The Combined Energy and Attitude ControlSystem (CEACS consisting of a double counter rotating flywheel assemblyis investigated for small satellites in this article. Another hybrid systemincorporating the conventional Attitude Control System into the ThermalControl System forming the Combined Attitude and Thermal ControlSystem (CATCS consisting of a "fluid wheel" and permanent magnets isalso investigated for small satellites herein. The governing equationsdescribing both these novel hybrid subsystems are presented and theironboard architectures are numerically tested. Both the investigated novelhybrid spacecraft subsystems comply with the reference missionrequirements.The hybrid subsystem design could be an attractive approach for futurespacecraft to cope with their demands. The idea of combining theconventional Attitude Control System and the Electrical Power System ispresented in this article. The Combined Energy and Attitude ControlSystem (CEACS consisting of a double counter rotating flywheel assemblyis investigated for small satellites in this article. Another hybrid systemincorporating the conventional Attitude Control System into the ThermalControl System forming the Combined Attitude and Thermal ControlSystem (CATCS consisting of a "fluid wheel" and permanent magnets isalso investigated for small satellites herein. The governing equationsdescribing both these novel hybrid subsystems are presented and theironboard architectures are numerically tested. Both the investigated novelhybrid spacecraft subsystems comply with the reference missionrequirements.

Load Control System Reliability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trudnowski, Daniel [Montana Tech of the Univ. of Montana, Butte, MT (United States)

2015-04-03

This report summarizes the results of the Load Control System Reliability project (DOE Award DE-FC26-06NT42750). The original grant was awarded to Montana Tech April 2006. Follow-on DOE awards and expansions to the project scope occurred August 2007, January 2009, April 2011, and April 2013. In addition to the DOE monies, the project also consisted of matching funds from the states of Montana and Wyoming. Project participants included Montana Tech; the University of Wyoming; Montana State University; NorthWestern Energy, Inc., and MSE. Research focused on two areas: real-time power-system load control methodologies; and, power-system measurement-based stability-assessment operation and control tools. The majority of effort was focused on area 2. Results from the research includes: development of fundamental power-system dynamic concepts, control schemes, and signal-processing algorithms; many papers (including two prize papers) in leading journals and conferences and leadership of IEEE activities; one patent; participation in major actual-system testing in the western North American power system; prototype power-system operation and control software installed and tested at three major North American control centers; and, the incubation of a new commercial-grade operation and control software tool. Work under this grant certainly supported the DOE-OE goals in the area of “Real Time Grid Reliability Management.”

Virtualization in control system environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen, L.R.; Liu, D.K.; Wan, T.M.

2012-01-01

In large scale distributed control system, there are lots of common service composed an environment for the entire control system, such as the server system for the common software base library, application server, archive server and so on. This paper gives a description of a virtualization realization for control system environment including the virtualization for server, storage, network system and application for the control system. With a virtualization instance of the EPICS based control system environment that was built by the VMware vSphere v4, we tested the whole functionality of this virtualization environment in the SSRF control system, including the common server of the NFS, NIS, NTP, Boot and EPICS base and extension library tools, we also have applied virtualization to application servers such as the Archive, Alarm, EPICS gateway and all of the network based IOC. Specially, we test the high availability and VMotion for EPICS asynchronous IOC successful under the different VLAN configuration of the current SSRF control system network. (authors)

Optimized hardware design for the divertor remote handling control system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saarinen, Hannu [Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 6, 33720 Tampere (Finland)], E-mail: hannu.saarinen@tut.fi; Tiitinen, Juha; Aha, Liisa; Muhammad, Ali; Mattila, Jouni; Siuko, Mikko; Vilenius, Matti [Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 6, 33720 Tampere (Finland); Jaervenpaeae, Jorma [VTT Systems Engineering, Tekniikankatu 1, 33720 Tampere (Finland); Irving, Mike; Damiani, Carlo; Semeraro, Luigi [Fusion for Energy, Josep Pla 2, Torres Diagonal Litoral B3, 08019 Barcelona (Spain)

2009-06-15

A key ITER maintenance activity is the exchange of the divertor cassettes. One of the major focuses of the EU Remote Handling (RH) programme has been the study and development of the remote handling equipment necessary for divertor exchange. The current major step in this programme involves the construction of a full scale physical test facility, namely DTP2 (Divertor Test Platform 2), in which to demonstrate and refine the RH equipment designs for ITER using prototypes. The major objective of the DTP2 project is the proof of concept studies of various RH devices, but is also important to define principles for standardizing control hardware and methods around the ITER maintenance equipment. This paper focuses on describing the control system hardware design optimization that is taking place at DTP2. Here there will be two RH movers, namely the Cassette Multifuctional Mover (CMM), Cassette Toroidal Mover (CTM) and assisting water hydraulic force feedback manipulators (WHMAN) located aboard each Mover. The idea here is to use common Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS), measurement and control IO-cards etc. for all maintenance devices and to standardize sensors and control components as much as possible. In this paper, new optimized DTP2 control system hardware design and some initial experimentation with the new DTP2 RH control system platform are presented. The proposed new approach is able to fulfil the functional requirements for both Mover and Manipulator control systems. Since the new control system hardware design has reduced architecture there are a number of benefits compared to the old approach. The simplified hardware solution enables the use of a single software development environment and a single communication protocol. This will result in easier maintainability of the software and hardware, less dependence on trained personnel, easier training of operators and hence reduced the development costs of ITER RH.

Technology-Related Involvement: The Effect of the MASHOV System on Parent Involvement in Israeli Junior Highs

Science.gov (United States)

Davidovitch, Nitza; Yavich, Roman

2015-01-01

The purpose of the study was to examine differences in parental involvement between two high schools that use the MASHOV program (an online learning management system) and one high school where parents receive updates regarding their children in other ways, with attention to parents' background variables: sex, income, and schooling. The study…

Communications and control for electric power systems: Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kirkham, H.

1998-04-01

This report is a summary of some of the work done on the Communications and Control project, with particular emphasis on the achievements during the years 1986--1996. During those years, the project moved away from concern with dispersed storage and generation and its impact on power system operation (the team was responsible for studies in this area, and for making a power system simulator that included DSG), and became involved in more concrete work aimed at applying high-tech solutions to problems of power system communications and control. This report covers work done at JPL on the following topics: (1) the measurement of electric and magnetic fields, both ac and dc; (2) the use of optical power to supply low-power electronics; (3) the design of a fault-tolerant communication system designed for distribution automation; and (4) a digital phase locked loop that allows the use of low-power transmitting electronics to recreate a good-quality signal at the receiver. In a report of this kind, only the results and highlights of the work are described.

Finite-time H∞ control for linear continuous system with norm-bounded disturbance

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Qingyi; Shen, Yanjun

2009-04-01

In this paper, the definition of finite-time H∞ control is presented. The system under consideration is subject to time-varying norm-bounded exogenous disturbance. The main aim of this paper is focused on the design a state feedback controller which ensures that the closed-loop system is finite-time bounded (FTB) and reduces the effect of the disturbance input on the controlled output to a prescribed level. A sufficient condition is presented for the solvability of this problem, which can be reduced to a feasibility problem involving linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A detailed solving method is proposed for the restricted linear matrix inequalities. Finally, examples are given to show the validity of the methodology.

JACoW Model learning algorithms for anomaly detection in CERN control systems

CERN Document Server

Tilaro, Filippo; Gonzalez-Berges, Manuel; Roshchin, Mikhail; Varela, Fernando

2018-01-01

The CERN automation infrastructure consists of over 600 heterogeneous industrial control systems with around 45 million deployed sensors, actuators and control objects. Therefore, it is evident that the monitoring of such huge system represents a challenging and complex task. This paper describes three different mathematical approaches that have been designed and developed to detect anomalies in any of the CERN control systems. Specifically, one of these algorithms is purely based on expert knowledge; the other two mine the historical generated data to create a simple model of the system; this model is then used to detect faulty sensors measurements. The presented methods can be categorized as dynamic unsupervised anomaly detection; “dynamic” since the behaviour of the system and the evolution of its attributes are observed and changing in time. They are “unsupervised” because we are trying to predict faulty events without examples in the data history. So, the described strategies involve monitoring t...

Multiple myeloma and central nervous system involvement: experience of a Brazilian center.

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, Ana Luiza Miranda Silva; Higashi, Fabiana; Peres, Ana Lúcia M; Cury, Pricilla; Crusoé, Edvan de Queiroz; Hungria, Vânia Tietsche de Moraes

The estimated involvement of the central nervous system in patients with multiple myeloma is rare at about 1%. The infiltration can be identified at the time multiple myeloma is diagnosed or during its progression. However, it is more common in refractory disease or during relapse. This retrospective cohort study reviewed data from medical records of patients followed up at the Gammopathy Outpatient Clinic of Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo from January 2008 to December 2016. Twenty patients were included, with a median follow-up of 33.5 months after central nervous system infiltration. The prevalence was 7%. The median age at diagnosis of multiple myeloma was 56.1 years, with 70% of participants being female. Sixteen patients had central nervous system infiltration at diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Seventeen patients had exclusive osteodural lesions and three had infiltrations of the leptomeninge, of which one had exclusive involvement and two had associated osteodural lesions. The median overall survival was 40.3 months after central nervous system involvement. The median overall survival in the group with central nervous system infiltration at relapse was 7.4 months. The patients with leptomeningeal involvement had a median overall survival of 5.8 months. Central nervous system infiltration is a rare condition, but it should be considered as a possibility in patients with multiple myeloma and neurological symptoms. The best treatment regimen for this condition remains unknown and, in most cases, the prognosis is unfavorable. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda.

Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control Systems Technologies Technical Program Plan for 2014

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hallbert, Bruce [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Thomas, Ken [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2014-07-01

The Advanced Instrumentation, Information, and Control (II&C) Systems Technologies Pathway conducts targeted research and development (R&D) to address aging and reliability concerns with the legacy instrumentation and control and related information systems of the U.S. operating light water reactor (LWR) fleet. This work involves two major goals: (1) to ensure that legacy analog II&C systems are not life-limiting issues for the LWR fleet, and (2) to implement digital II&C technology in a manner that enables broad innovation and business improvement in the nuclear power plant operating model. Resolving long-term operational concerns with the II&C systems contributes to the long-term sustainability of the LWR fleet, which is vital to the nation's energy and environmental security.

Cardiac tamponade preceding skin involvement in systemic sclerosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Bozzola

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The frequency of pericardial involvement in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc is high on autoptic or echocardiographic studies, but the clinical recognition of pericarditis with or without effusion is rare. We describe a case of a 71-year-old female with no previous history of heart disease, who presented with a large pericardial effusion and tamponade that required pericardial drain. She had suffered from Raynaud’s phenomenon since 25 years. Six weeks after hospital discharge she complained of skin hardening on left leg. Pericardial tamponade is a very rare manifestation of SSc and occurs both early or late in the course of the disease, but in our case it preceded the recognition of scleroderma. We have only identified two other cases of pericardial effusion preceding cutaneous involvement in scleroderma.

ISTTOK control system upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvalho, Ivo S., E-mail: ivoc@ipfn.ist.utl.pt; Duarte, Paulo; Fernandes, Horácio; Valcárcel, Daniel F.; Carvalho, Pedro J.; Silva, Carlos; Duarte, André S.; Neto, André; Sousa, Jorge; Batista, António J.N.; Carvalho, Bernardo B.

2013-10-15

Highlights: •ISTTOK fast controller. •All real-time diagnostic and actuators were integrated in the control platform. •100 μs control cycle under the MARTe framework. •The ISTTOK control system upgrade provides reliable operation with an improved operational space. -- Abstract: The ISTTOK tokamak (Ip = 4 kA, BT = 0.5 T, R = 0.46 m, a = 0.085 m) is one of the few tokamaks with regular alternate plasma current (AC) discharges scientific programme. In order to improve the discharge stability and to increase the number of AC discharge cycles a novel control system was developed. The controller acquires data from 50 analog-to-digital converter (ADC) channels of real-time diagnostics and measurements: tomography, Mirnov coils, interferometer, electric probes, sine and cosine probes, bolometer, current delivered by the power supplies, loop voltage and plasma current. The system has a control cycle of 100 μs during which it reads all the diagnostics connected to the advanced telecommunications computing architecture (ATCA) digitizers and sends the control reference to ISTTOK actuators. The controller algorithms are executed on an Intel{sup ®} Q8200 chip with 4 cores running at 2.33 GHz and connected to the I/O interfaces through an ATCA based environment. The real-time control system was programmed in C++ on top of the Multi-threaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe). To extend the duration of the AC discharges and the plasma stability a new magnetising field power supply was commissioned and the horizontal and vertical field power supplies were also upgraded. The new system also features a user-friendly interface based on HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Javascript to configure the controller parameters. This paper presents the ISTTOK control system and the consequent update of real-time diagnostics and actuators.

ISTTOK control system upgrade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carvalho, Ivo S.; Duarte, Paulo; Fernandes, Horácio; Valcárcel, Daniel F.; Carvalho, Pedro J.; Silva, Carlos; Duarte, André S.; Neto, André; Sousa, Jorge; Batista, António J.N.; Carvalho, Bernardo B.

2013-01-01

Highlights: •ISTTOK fast controller. •All real-time diagnostic and actuators were integrated in the control platform. •100 μs control cycle under the MARTe framework. •The ISTTOK control system upgrade provides reliable operation with an improved operational space. -- Abstract: The ISTTOK tokamak (Ip = 4 kA, BT = 0.5 T, R = 0.46 m, a = 0.085 m) is one of the few tokamaks with regular alternate plasma current (AC) discharges scientific programme. In order to improve the discharge stability and to increase the number of AC discharge cycles a novel control system was developed. The controller acquires data from 50 analog-to-digital converter (ADC) channels of real-time diagnostics and measurements: tomography, Mirnov coils, interferometer, electric probes, sine and cosine probes, bolometer, current delivered by the power supplies, loop voltage and plasma current. The system has a control cycle of 100 μs during which it reads all the diagnostics connected to the advanced telecommunications computing architecture (ATCA) digitizers and sends the control reference to ISTTOK actuators. The controller algorithms are executed on an Intel ® Q8200 chip with 4 cores running at 2.33 GHz and connected to the I/O interfaces through an ATCA based environment. The real-time control system was programmed in C++ on top of the Multi-threaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe). To extend the duration of the AC discharges and the plasma stability a new magnetising field power supply was commissioned and the horizontal and vertical field power supplies were also upgraded. The new system also features a user-friendly interface based on HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Javascript to configure the controller parameters. This paper presents the ISTTOK control system and the consequent update of real-time diagnostics and actuators

Robust lyapunov controller for uncertain systems

KAUST Repository

Laleg-Kirati, Taous-Meriem

2017-02-23

Various examples of systems and methods are provided for Lyapunov control for uncertain systems. In one example, a system includes a process plant and a robust Lyapunov controller configured to control an input of the process plant. The robust Lyapunov controller includes an inner closed loop Lyapunov controller and an outer closed loop error stabilizer. In another example, a method includes monitoring a system output of a process plant; generating an estimated system control input based upon a defined output reference; generating a system control input using the estimated system control input and a compensation term; and adjusting the process plant based upon the system control input to force the system output to track the defined output reference. An inner closed loop Lyapunov controller can generate the estimated system control input and an outer closed loop error stabilizer can generate the system control input.

Evaluation and quality control of digital subtraction angiography systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Louisot, P.

1986-04-01

After reviewing the development of systems used in angiography, we rewind the medical interest and describe the steps of an angiographic examination. The following chapter is dedicated to the techniques used for the digitalization of video images. The components of the system involved in the image acquisition are thoroughly investigated in chapter 4. Then, we analyse the capabilities of the machines available in France in 1985. Chapter 6 is devoted to the criteria of quality in digital imaging. In order to assign qualitative values to the above criteria, we design a control procedure which is described in chapter 7. The procedure thus allows the estimate of the physical performances of angiographic digital subtraction systems [fr

D0 Cryo System Control System Autodialer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Urbin, J.; /Fermilab

1990-04-17

The DO cryogenic system is controlled by a TI565-PLC based control system. This allows the system to be unmanned when in steady state operation. System experts will need to be contacted when system parameters exceed normal operating points and reach alarm setpoints. The labwide FIRUS system provides one alarm monitor and communication link. An autodialer provides a second and more flexible alarm monitor and communication link. The autodialer monitors contact points in the control system and after receiving indication of an alarm accesses a list of experts which it calls until it receives an acknowledgement. There are several manufacturers and distributors of autodialer systems. This EN explains the search process the DO cryo group used to fmd an autodialer system that fit the cryo system's needs and includes information and specs for the unit we chose.

System-Awareness for Agent-based Power System Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heussen, Kai; Saleem, Arshad; Lind, Morten

2010-01-01

transition. This paper presents a concept for the representation and organization of control- and resource-allocation, enabling computational reasoning and system awareness. The principles are discussed with respect to a recently proposed Subgrid operation concept.......Operational intelligence in electric power systems is focused in a small number of control rooms that coordinate their actions. A clear division of responsibility and a command hierarchy organize system operation. With multi-agent based control systems, this control paradigm may be shifted...... to a more decentralized openaccess collaboration control paradigm. This shift cannot happen at once, but must fit also with current operation principles. In order to establish a scalable and transparent system control architecture, organizing principles have to be identified that allow for a smooth...

Component Control System for a Vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Fraser-Chanpong, Nathan (Inventor); Spain, Ivan (Inventor); Dawson, Andrew D. (Inventor); Bluethmann, William J. (Inventor); Lee, Chunhao J. (Inventor); Vitale, Robert L. (Inventor); Guo, Raymond (Inventor); Waligora, Thomas M. (Inventor); Akinyode, Akinjide Akinniyi (Inventor); Reed, Ryan M. (Inventor)

2016-01-01

A vehicle includes a chassis, a modular component, and a central operating system. The modular component is supported by the chassis. The central operating system includes a component control system, a primary master controller, and a secondary master controller. The component control system is configured for controlling the modular component. The primary and secondary master controllers are in operative communication with the component control system. The primary and secondary master controllers are configured to simultaneously transmit commands to the component control system. The component control system is configured to accept commands from the secondary master controller only when a fault occurs in the primary master controller.

Classification system for reporting events involving human malfunctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasmussen, J.; Pedersen, O.M.; Mancini, G.

1981-01-01

The report describes a set of categories for reporting industrial incidents and events involving human malfunction. The classification system aims at ensuring information adequate for improvement of human work situations and man-machine interface systems and for attempts to quantify ''human error'' rates. The classification system has a multifacetted non-hierarchical structure and its compatibility with Ispra's ERDS classification is described. The collection of the information in general and for quantification purposes are discussed. 24 categories, 12 of which being human factors-oriented, are listed with their respective subcategories, and comments are given. Underlying models of human data process and their typical malfuntions and of a human decision sequence are described. The work reported is a joint contribution to the CSNI Group of Experts on Human Error Data and Assessment

Using Weightless Neural Networks for Vergence Control in an Artificial Vision System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karin S. Komati

2003-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a methodology we have developed and used to implement an artificial binocular vision system capable of emulating the vergence of eye movements. This methodology involves using weightless neural networks (WNNs as building blocks of artificial vision systems. Using the proposed methodology, we have designed several architectures of WNN-based artificial vision systems, in which images captured by virtual cameras are used for controlling the position of the ‘foveae’ of these cameras (high-resolution region of the images captured. Our best architecture is able to control the foveae vergence movements with average error of only 3.58 image pixels, which is equivalent to an angular error of approximately 0.629°.

Ground Control System Description Document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eric Loros

2001-01-01

The Ground Control System contributes to the safe construction and operation of the subsurface facility, including accesses and waste emplacement drifts, by maintaining the configuration and stability of the openings during construction, development, emplacement, and caretaker modes for the duration of preclosure repository life. The Ground Control System consists of ground support structures installed within the subsurface excavated openings, any reinforcement made to the rock surrounding the opening, and inverts if designed as an integral part of the system. The Ground Control System maintains stability for the range of geologic conditions expected at the repository and for all expected loading conditions, including in situ rock, construction, operation, thermal, and seismic loads. The system maintains the size and geometry of operating envelopes for all openings, including alcoves, accesses, and emplacement drifts. The system provides for the installation and operation of sensors and equipment for any required inspection and monitoring. In addition, the Ground Control System provides protection against rockfall for all subsurface personnel, equipment, and the engineered barrier system, including the waste package during the preclosure period. The Ground Control System uses materials that are sufficiently maintainable and that retain the necessary engineering properties for the anticipated conditions of the preclosure service life. These materials are also compatible with postclosure waste isolation performance requirements of the repository. The Ground Control System interfaces with the Subsurface Facility System for operating envelopes, drift orientation, and excavated opening dimensions, Emplacement Drift System for material compatibility, Monitored Geologic Repository Operations Monitoring and Control System for ground control instrument readings, Waste Emplacement/Retrieval System to support waste emplacement operations, and the Subsurface Excavation System

Generic device controller for accelerator control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mariotti, R.; Buxton, W.; Frankel, R.; Hoff, L.

1987-01-01

A new distributed intelligence control system has become operational at the AGS for transport, injection, and acceleration of heavy ions. A brief description of the functionality of the physical devices making up the system is given. An attempt has been made to integrate the devices for accelerator specific interfacing into a standard microprocessor system, namely, the Universal Device Controller (UDC). The main goals for such a generic device controller are to provide: local computing power; flexibility to configure; and real time event handling. The UDC assemblies and software are described

Interprocess communication within the DIII-D plasma control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piglowski, D.A.; Penaflor, B.G.; Ferron, J.R.

1999-06-01

The DIII-D tokamak fusion research experiment's real-time digital plasma control system (PCS) is a complex and ever evolving system. During a plasma experiment, it is tasked with some of the most crucial functions at DIII-D. Key responsibilities of the PCS involve sub-system control, data acquisition/storage, and user interface. To accomplish these functions, the PCS is broken down into individual components (both software and hardware), each capable of handling a specific duty set. Constant interaction between these components is necessary prior, during and after a standard plasma cycle. Complicating the matter even more is that some components, mostly those which deal with user interaction, may exist remotely, that is to say they are not part of the immediate hardware which makes up the bulk of the PCS. The four main objectives of this paper are to (1) present a brief outline of the PCS hardware/software and how they relate to each other; (2) present a brief overview of a standard DIII-D plasma cycle (a shot); (3) using three sets of PCS sub-systems, describe in more detail the communication processes; and (4) evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of said systems

Optimal control of ODE systems involving a rate independent variational inequality

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Brokate, M.; Krejčí, Pavel

2013-01-01

Roč. 18, č. 2 (2013), s. 331-348 ISSN 1531-3492 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP201/10/2315 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : evolution variational inequalities * hysteresis * optimal control Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.628, year: 2013 http://www.aimsciences.org/journals/displayArticlesnew.jsp?paperID=7971

Dynamic modeling and explicit/multi-parametric MPC control of pressure swing adsorption systems

KAUST Repository

Khajuria, Harish

2011-01-01

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a flexible, albeit complex gas separation system. Due to its inherent nonlinear nature and discontinuous operation, the design of a model based PSA controller, especially with varying operating conditions, is a challenging task. This work focuses on the design of an explicit/multi-parametric model predictive controller for a PSA system. Based on a system involving four adsorbent beds separating 70% H2, 30% CH4 mixture into high purity hydrogen, the key controller objective is to fast track H2 purity to a set point value of 99.99%. To perform this task, a rigorous and systematic framework is employed. First, a high fidelity detailed dynamic model is built to represent the system\\'s real operation, and understand its dynamic behavior. The model is then used to derive appropriate linear models by applying suitable system identification techniques. For the reduced models, a model predictive control (MPC) step is formulated, where latest developments in multi-parametric programming and control are applied to derive a novel explicit MPC controller. To test the performance of the designed controller, closed loop simulations are performed where the dynamic model is used as the virtual plant. Comparison studies of the derived explicit MPC controller are also performed with conventional PID controllers. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Control rod shutdown system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyamoto, Yoshiyuki; Higashigawa, Yuichi.

1996-01-01

The present invention provides a control rod terminating system in a BWR type nuclear power plant, which stops an induction electric motor as rapidly as possible to terminate the control rods. Namely, the control rod stopping system controls reactor power by inserting/withdrawing control rods into a reactor by driving them by the induction electric motor. The system is provided with a control device for controlling the control rods and a control device for controlling the braking device. The control device outputs a braking operation signal for actuating the braking device during operation of the control rods to stop the operation of the control rods. Further, the braking device has at least two kinds of breaks, namely, a first and a second brakes. The two kinds of brakes are actuated by receiving the brake operation signals at different timings. The brake device is used also for keeping the control rods after the stopping. Even if a stopping torque of each of the breaks is small, different two kinds of brakes are operated at different timings thereby capable of obtaining a large stopping torque as a total. (I.S.)

Design of Air Traffic Control Operation System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriela STROE

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a numerical simulation for a different aircraft, based on the specific aircraft data that can be incorporated in the model and the equations of motions which can be consequently solved. The aircraft flight design involves various technical steps and requires the use of sophisticated software having modeling and simulation capabilities. Within the flight simulation model, the aerodynamic model can be regarded as the most complex and most important. With appropriate aerodynamic modeling the aerodynamic forces and moments acting on the aircraft's center of gravity can be numerically solved with accuracy. These forces and moments are further used to solve the equations of motion. The development of control and computing technology makes it possible for advanced flight control strategy. The advanced control techniques tend to make the control design and their implementation much more complicated with more control loops or channels; in this line, the autopilot of modern aircrafts includes a variety of automatic control systems that aid and support the flight navigation, flight management, and perform the enhancing and/or augmenting of the stability characteristics of the airplane. Therefore in this context it is very important to choose the dynamic that will satisfy the performance and robustness specifications.

Drone Control System

Science.gov (United States)

1983-01-01

Drones, subscale vehicles like the Firebees, and full scale retired military aircraft are used to test air defense missile systems. The DFCS (Drone Formation Control System) computer, developed by IBM (International Business Machines) Federal Systems Division, can track ten drones at once. A program called ORACLS is used to generate software to track and control Drones. It was originally developed by Langley and supplied by COSMIC (Computer Software Management and Information Center). The program saved the company both time and money.

Tautological control systems

CERN Document Server

Lewis, Andrew D

2014-01-01

This brief presents a description of a new modelling framework for nonlinear/geometric control theory. The framework is intended to be—and shown to be—feedback-invariant. As such, Tautological Control Systems provides a platform for understanding fundamental structural problems in geometric control theory. Part of the novelty of the text stems from the variety of regularity classes, e.g., Lipschitz, finitely differentiable, smooth, real analytic, with which it deals in a comprehensive and unified manner. The treatment of the important real analytic class especially reflects recent work on real analytic topologies by the author. Applied mathematicians interested in nonlinear and geometric control theory will find this brief of interest as a starting point for work in which feedback invariance is important. Graduate students working in control theory may also find Tautological Control Systems to be a stimulating starting point for their research.

Spacecraft momentum control systems

CERN Document Server

Leve, Frederick A; Peck, Mason A

2015-01-01

The goal of this book is to serve both as a practical technical reference and a resource for gaining a fuller understanding of the state of the art of spacecraft momentum control systems, specifically looking at control moment gyroscopes (CMGs). As a result, the subject matter includes theory, technology, and systems engineering. The authors combine material on system-level architecture of spacecraft that feature momentum-control systems with material about the momentum-control hardware and software. This also encompasses material on the theoretical and algorithmic approaches to the control of space vehicles with CMGs. In essence, CMGs are the attitude-control actuators that make contemporary highly agile spacecraft possible. The rise of commercial Earth imaging, the advances in privately built spacecraft (including small satellites), and the growing popularity of the subject matter in academic circles over the past decade argues that now is the time for an in-depth treatment of the topic. CMGs are augmented ...

Vacuum control system of VEC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, Anindya; Bhole, R.B.; Bandopadhyay, D.L.; Mukhopadhyay, B.; Pal, Sarbajit; Sarkar, D.

2009-01-01

As a part of modernization of VEC (Variable Energy Cyclotron), the Vacuum Control System is being upgraded to PLC based automated system from initial Relay based Manual system. EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System), a standard open source software tool for designing distributed control system, is chosen for developing the supervisory control software layer, leading towards a unified distributed control architecture of VEC Control System. A Modbus - TCP based IOC (I/O Controller) has been developed to communicate control data to PLC using Ethernet-TCP LAN. Keeping in mind, the operators' familiarity with MS-Windows, a MS-Windows based operator interface is developed using VB6. It is also used to test and evaluate EPICS compatibility to MS Windows. Several MS Windows ActiveX components e.g. text display, image display, alarm window, set-point input etc. have been developed incorporating Channel Access library of EPICS. Use of such components ease the programming complexity and reduce developmental time of the operator interface. The system is in the final phase of commissioning. (author)

Pressure control modernization for D2O supply system of the fuel machine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ionescu, T.; Burla, I.; Vasilache, V.

2005-01-01

The analog controllers of the D 2 O Supply System (BSI-35260) were replaced at Cernavoda NPP U1 with a modern solution built on a new platform with powerful Fischer and Porter controllers. During two years of operating experience this new solution demonstrated its capabilities to work without any fault. This paper describes briefly the involved system, the hardware and software aspects of this solution, how the software solution was tested using the Full-Scope Simulator facilities and finally, results of the tests done in the real plant are discussed. (authors)

Design and Architecture of SST-1 basic plasma control system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Patel, Kirit, E-mail: kpatel@ipr.res.in; Raju, D.; Dhongde, J.; Mahajan, K.; Chudasama, H.; Gulati, H.; Chauhan, A.; Masand, H.; Bhandarkar, M.; Pradhan, S.

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Reflective Memory network. • FPAG based Timing system for trigger distribution. • IRIG-B network for GPS time synchronization. • PMC based Digital Signal Processors and VME. • Simultaneous sampling ADC. - Abstract: Primary objective of SST-1 Plasma control system is to achieve Plasma position, shape and current profile control. Architecture of control system for SST-1 is distributed in nature. Fastest control loop time requirement of 100 μs is achieved using VME based simultaneous sampling ADCs, PMC based quad core DSP, Reflective Memory [RFM] based real-time network, VME based real-time trigger distribution network and Ethernet network. All the control loops for shape control, position control and current profile control share common signals from Magnetic diagnostic so it is planned to accommodate all the algorithms on the same PMC based quad core DSP module TS C-43. RFM based real-time data network replicate data from one node to next node in a ring network topology at sustained throughput rate of 13.4 MBps. Real-time Timing System network provides guaranteed trigger distribution in 3.8 μs from one node to all node of the network. Monitoring and configuration of different systems participating in the operation of SST-1 is done by Ethernet network. Magnetic sensors data is acquired using Pentek 6802 simultaneously sampling ADC card at the rate of 10KSPS. All the real-time raw data along with the control data will be archived using RFM network and SCSI HDD for the experiment duration of 1000 s. RFM network is also planned for real-time plotting of key parameter of Plasma during long experiment. After experiment this data is transferred to central storage server for archival purpose. This paper discusses the architecture and hardware implementation of the control system by describing all the involved hardware and software along with future plans for up-gradations.

When the user is not the chooser: learning from stakeholder involvement in technology adoption decisions in infection control.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, R; Kyratsis, Y; Holmes, A

2012-07-01

Health systems need efficient and effective innovation decisions to provide maximum benefit to patients, particularly in a climate of financial constraints. Although evidence-based innovations exist for helping to address healthcare-associated infections, the uptake and implementation of these is highly variable and in some cases very slow. To investigate innovation adoption decisions and implementation processes from an organizational perspective, focusing on the implications of stakeholder involvement during the innovation process. Thirty-eight technology adoption decisions and implementation processes were examined through 121 qualitative interviews in 12 National Health Service healthcare organizations across England. Stakeholder involvement varied across organizations with decisions highly exclusive to the infection prevention and control (IPC) team, to highly inclusive of wider organizational members. The context, including organizational culture, previous experience, and logistical factors influenced the level of stakeholder engagement. The timing of stakeholder involvement in the process impacted on: (i) the range of innovations considered; (ii) the technologies selected, and (iii) the success of technology implementation. Cases of non-adoption, discontinued adoption, and of successful implementation are presented to share learning. The potential benefits of stakeholder involvement for 'successful' innovation adoption are presented including a goal-oriented framework for involvement. Key stakeholder involvement can lead to innovation adoption and implementation compatible with structural and cultural contexts, particularly when involvement crosses the phases of initiation, decision-making and implementation. Involving members of the wider healthcare organization can raise the profile of IPC and reinforce efforts to make IPC everybody's business. Copyright © 2012 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The dynamics of a Beddington-type system with impulsive control strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zhenqing; Wang Weiming; Wang Hailing

2006-01-01

In this paper, by using the theories and methods of ecology and ordinary differential equation, a prey-predator system with Beddington-type functional response and impulsive control strategy is established. Conditions for the system to be extinct are given by using the theories of impulsive equation and small amplitude perturbation skills. It is proved that the system is permanent via the method of comparison involving multiple Liapunov functions. Furthermore, by using the method of numerical simulation, the influence of the impulsive control strategy on the inherent oscillation are investigated, which shows rich dynamics, such as period doubling bifurcation, crises, symmetry-breaking pitchfork bifurcations, chaotic bands, quasi-periodic oscillation, narrow periodic window, wide periodic window, period-halving bifurcation, etc. That will be useful for study of the dynamic complexity of ecosystems

Microbial contamination control in fuels and fuel systems since 1980 - a review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Passman, Frederick J. [Biodeterioration Control Associates, Inc (United States)], email: fredp@biodeterioration-control.com

2011-07-01

This paper presents a review of microbial contamination control in fuel and fuel systems. Some examples of the biodeterioration of components of fuel systems are given. Root cause analysis (RCA) and modeling can help in condition monitoring of fuel systems. RCA is a systematic process that starts after symptoms become apparent and facilitates improvement. Modeling, by contrast, starts before the problem occurs and the objective is to improve understanding of the process. Some of the different areas creating risk due to the process are climate, microbiology, chemistry, maintenance, and engineering. Condition monitoring is explained in detail, using representative samples. Contamination control plays a very important role. Various aspects of microbial contamination control are design, inventory control, house keeping and remediation. These aspects are explained in detail, using various examples. Since the deterioration cost involved is very high, its is important to avoid this problem by reducing the quantity of water used and using better risk assessment models.

Researching on YH100 Numerical Control Servo Press Hydraulic Control System and Control Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai LI

2014-09-01

Full Text Available In order to study the numerical control (NC servo press hydraulic control system and its control algorithm. The numerical control servo press performance and control principle of hydraulic control system are analyzed. According to the flow equation of the hydraulic control valve, hydraulic cylinder flow continuity equation and the force balance equation of the hydraulic cylinder with load press, the mathematical model of hydraulic control system is established. And the servo press hydraulic system transfer function is deduced. Introducing the suitable immune particle swarm control algorithm for servo press hydraulic system, and the control system block diagram is established. Immune algorithm is used to optimize new control parameters of the system and adopt the new optimization results to optimize the system simulation. The simulation result shows that the hydraulic system’s transition time controlled by the immune particle swarm algorithm is shorter than traditional ones, and the control performance is obviously improved. Finally it can be concluded that immune particle swarm PID control have these characteristics such as quickness, stability and accuracy. Applying this principle into application, the obtained YH100 numerical control servo press hydraulic control system meets the requirement.

Development of autonomous controller system of high speed UAV from simulation to ready to fly condition

Science.gov (United States)

Yudhi Irwanto, Herma

2018-02-01

The development of autonomous controller system that is specially used in our high speed UAV, it’s call RKX-200EDF/TJ controlled vehicle needs to be continued as a step to mastery and to developt control system of LAPAN’s satellite launching rocket. The weakness of the existing control system in this high speed UAV needs to be repaired and replaced using the autonomous controller system. Conversion steps for ready-to-fly system involved controlling X tail fin, adjusting auto take off procedure by adding X axis sensor, procedure of way points reading and process of measuring distance and heading to the nearest way point, developing user-friendly ground station, and adding tools for safety landing. The development of this autonomous controller system also covered a real flying test in Pandanwangi, Lumajang in November 2016. Unfortunately, the flying test was not successful because the booster rocket was blown right after burning. However, the system could record the event and demonstrated that the controller system had worked according to plan.

ISABELLE control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humphrey, J.W.; Frankel, R.S.; Niederer, J.A.

1980-01-01

Design principles for the Brookhaven ISABELLE control intersecting storage ring accelerator are described. Principal features include a locally networked console and control computer complex, a system wide process data highway, and intelligent local device controllers. Progress to date is summarized

Replacement of the complete control system of the NPP Oskarshamn 1 by digital distributed control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, E.

1998-01-01

As part of an ongoing modernization program, Oskarshamn 1's I and C system and control room will be upgraded by ABB using its Advant Power range of digital, programmable process control system. Besides ensuring the higher level of safety that is demanded today, the new equipment provides the plant with an integrated system which will improve operator overview of operation and reduce risk of human error and serve as a platform for further improvements of the control room. This paper discusses in the example of Oskarshamn 1 how the complete control system of a nuclear power plant may be exchanged, the technical solution and the time schedule. Oskarshamn 1 is the first nuclear power plant in Sweden. It is a boiling water reactor built by ABB ATOM in Sweden between 1966 and 1971. According to this age the control system is semiconductor based and the reactor protection system is relays based. This makes the maintenance expensive and extensions nearly impossible. To extend the life period of this plant the owner has decided to improve the safety system and to replace the reactor protection system and safety related control and the non safety related control by a state of the art digital distributed control system of ABB. In March 1997 ABB got the order to replace the reactor protection system, the safety control system, to start the replacement of all control systems and to replace the old control room by a new ergonomically designed control room. Together with the exchange of the control system an enhancement of the safety system and of the emergency power supply will be implemented

Childhood bullying involvement predicts low-grade systemic inflammation into adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

Copeland, William E.; Wolke, Dieter; Lereya, Suzet Tanya; Shanahan, Lilly; Worthman, Carol; Costello, E. Jane

2014-01-01

Bullying is a common childhood experience that involves repeated mistreatment to improve or maintain one’s status. Victims display long-term social, psychological, and health consequences, whereas bullies display minimal ill effects. The aim of this study is to test how this adverse social experience is biologically embedded to affect short- or long-term levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of low-grade systemic inflammation. The prospective population-based Great Smoky Mountains Study (n = 1,420), with up to nine waves of data per subject, was used, covering childhood/adolescence (ages 9–16) and young adulthood (ages 19 and 21). Structured interviews were used to assess bullying involvement and relevant covariates at all childhood/adolescent observations. Blood spots were collected at each observation and assayed for CRP levels. During childhood and adolescence, the number of waves at which the child was bullied predicted increasing levels of CRP. Although CRP levels rose for all participants from childhood into adulthood, being bullied predicted greater increases in CRP levels, whereas bullying others predicted lower increases in CRP compared with those uninvolved in bullying. This pattern was robust, controlling for body mass index, substance use, physical and mental health status, and exposures to other childhood psychosocial adversities. A child’s role in bullying may serve as either a risk or a protective factor for adult low-grade inflammation, independent of other factors. Inflammation is a physiological response that mediates the effects of both social adversity and dominance on decreases in health. PMID:24821813

Perinatal Development of the Motor Systems Involved in Postural Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurent Vinay

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Motor behaviors of some species, such as the rat and the human baby, are quite immature at birth. Here we review recent data on some of the mechanisms underlying the postnatal maturation of posture in the rat, in particular the development of pathways descending from the brain stem and projecting onto the lumbar enlargement of the spinal cord. A short-lasting depletion in serotonin affects both posture and the excitability of motoneurons. Here we try to extrapolate to human development and suggest that the abnormalities in motor control observed in childhood—e.g, deficits in motor coordination—might have their roots in the prenatal period, in particular serotonin depletion due to exposure to several environmental and toxicological factors during pregnancy.

The ghrelin signalling system is involved in the consumption of sweets.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara Landgren

Full Text Available The gastric-derived orexigenic peptide ghrelin affects brain circuits involved in energy balance as well as in reward. Indeed, ghrelin activates an important reward circuit involved in natural- as well as drug-induced reward, the cholinergic-dopaminergic reward link. It has been hypothesized that there is a common reward mechanism for alcohol and sweet substances in both animals and humans. Alcohol dependent individuals have higher craving for sweets than do healthy controls and the hedonic response to sweet taste may, at least in part, depend on genetic factors. Rat selectively bred for high sucrose intake have higher alcohol consumption than non-sucrose preferring rats and vice versa. In the present study a group of alcohol-consuming individuals selected from a population cohort was investigated for genetic variants of the ghrelin signalling system in relation to both their alcohol and sucrose consumption. Moreover, the effects of GHS-R1A antagonism on voluntary sucrose-intake and operant self-administration, as well as saccharin intake were investigated in preclinical studies using rodents. The effects of peripheral grelin administration on sucrose intake were also examined. Here we found associations with the ghrelin gene haplotypes and increased sucrose consumption, and a trend for the same association was seen in the high alcohol consumers. The preclinical data show that a GHS-R1A antagonist reduces the intake and self-administration of sucrose in rats as well as saccharin intake in mice. Further, ghrelin increases the intake of sucrose in rats. Collectively, our data provide a clear indication that the GHS-R1A antagonists reduces and ghrelin increases the intake of rewarding substances and hence, the central ghrelin signalling system provides a novel target for the development of drug strategies to treat addictive behaviours.

Involvement of the corticospinal tract in the control of human gait

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barthélemy, Dorothy; Grey, Michael James; Nielsen, Jens Bo

2011-01-01

to rehabilitation therapy, which will enhance gait ability and recovery in patients with lesions to the central nervous system (CNS). We review evidence for the involvement of the primary motor cortex and the CST during normal and perturbed walking and during gait adaptation. We will also discuss knowledge...

Phase Control in Nonlinear Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zambrano, Samuel; Seoane, Jesús M.; Mariño, Inés P.; Sanjuán, Miguel A. F.; Meucci, Riccardo

The following sections are included: * Introduction * Phase Control of Chaos * Description of the model * Numerical exploration of phase control of chaos * Experimental evidence of phase control of chaos * Phase Control of Intermittency in Dynamical Systems * Crisis-induced intermittency and its control * Experimental setup and implementation of the phase control scheme * Phase control of the laser in the pre-crisis regime * Phase control of the intermittency after the crisis * Phase control of the intermittency in the quadratic map * Phase Control of Escapes in Open Dynamical Systems * Control of open dynamical systems * Model description * Numerical simulations and heuristic arguments * Experimental implementation in an electronic circuit * Conclusions and Discussions * Acknowledgments * References

Underwater hydraulic shock shovel control system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, He-Ping; Luo, A.-Ni; Xiao, Hai-Yan

2008-06-01

The control system determines the effectiveness of an underwater hydraulic shock shovel. This paper begins by analyzing the working principles of these shovels and explains the importance of their control systems. A new type of control system’s mathematical model was built and analyzed according to those principles. Since the initial control system’s response time could not fulfill the design requirements, a PID controller was added to the control system. System response time was still slower than required, so a neural network was added to nonlinearly regulate the proportional element, integral element and derivative element coefficients of the PID controller. After these improvements to the control system, system parameters fulfilled the design requirements. The working performance of electrically-controlled parts such as the rapidly moving high speed switch valve is largely determined by the control system. Normal control methods generally can’t satisfy a shovel’s requirements, so advanced and normal control methods were combined to improve the control system, bringing good results.

The ATLAS Detector Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lantzsch, K; Braun, H; Hirschbuehl, D; Kersten, S; Arfaoui, S; Franz, S; Gutzwiller, O; Schlenker, S; Tsarouchas, C A; Mindur, B; Hartert, J; Zimmermann, S; Talyshev, A; Oliveira Damazio, D; Poblaguev, A; Martin, T; Thompson, P D; Caforio, D; Sbarra, C; Hoffmann, D

2012-01-01

The ATLAS experiment is one of the multi-purpose experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, constructed to study elementary particle interactions in collisions of high-energy proton beams. Twelve different sub detectors as well as the common experimental infrastructure are controlled and monitored by the Detector Control System (DCS) using a highly distributed system of 140 server machines running the industrial SCADA product PVSS. Higher level control system layers allow for automatic control procedures, efficient error recognition and handling, manage the communication with external systems such as the LHC controls, and provide a synchronization mechanism with the ATLAS data acquisition system. Different databases are used to store the online parameters of the experiment, replicate a subset used for physics reconstruction, and store the configuration parameters of the systems. This contribution describes the computing architecture and software tools to handle this complex and highly interconnected control system.

The ATLAS Detector Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Lantzsch, K.; Arfaoui, S.; Franz, S.; Gutzwiller, O.; Schlenker, S.; Tsarouchas, C. A.; Mindur, B.; Hartert, J.; Zimmermann, S.; Talyshev, A.; Oliveira Damazio, D.; Poblaguev, A.; Braun, H.; Hirschbuehl, D.; Kersten, S.; Martin, T.; Thompson, P. D.; Caforio, D.; Sbarra, C.; Hoffmann, D.; Nemecek, S.; Robichaud-Veronneau, A.; Wynne, B.; Banas, E.; Hajduk, Z.; Olszowska, J.; Stanecka, E.; Bindi, M.; Polini, A.; Deliyergiyev, M.; Mandic, I.; Ertel, E.; Marques Vinagre, F.; Ribeiro, G.; Santos, H. F.; Barillari, T.; Habring, J.; Huber, J.; Arabidze, G.; Boterenbrood, H.; Hart, R.; Iakovidis, G.; Karakostas, K.; Leontsinis, S.; Mountricha, E.; Ntekas, K.; Filimonov, V.; Khomutnikov, V.; Kovalenko, S.; Grassi, V.; Mitrevski, J.; Phillips, P.; Chekulaev, S.; D'Auria, S.; Nagai, K.; Tartarelli, G. F.; Aielli, G.; Marchese, F.; Lafarguette, P.; Brenner, R.

2012-12-01

The ATLAS experiment is one of the multi-purpose experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, constructed to study elementary particle interactions in collisions of high-energy proton beams. Twelve different sub detectors as well as the common experimental infrastructure are controlled and monitored by the Detector Control System (DCS) using a highly distributed system of 140 server machines running the industrial SCADA product PVSS. Higher level control system layers allow for automatic control procedures, efficient error recognition and handling, manage the communication with external systems such as the LHC controls, and provide a synchronization mechanism with the ATLAS data acquisition system. Different databases are used to store the online parameters of the experiment, replicate a subset used for physics reconstruction, and store the configuration parameters of the systems. This contribution describes the computing architecture and software tools to handle this complex and highly interconnected control system.

Hybrid spacecraft attitude control system

OpenAIRE

Renuganth Varatharajoo; Ramly Ajir; Tamizi Ahmad

2016-01-01

The hybrid subsystem design could be an attractive approach for futurespacecraft to cope with their demands. The idea of combining theconventional Attitude Control System and the Electrical Power System ispresented in this article. The Combined Energy and Attitude ControlSystem (CEACS) consisting of a double counter rotating flywheel assemblyis investigated for small satellites in this article. Another hybrid systemincorporating the conventional Attitude Control System into the ThermalControl...

Advanced Applications of Subsea Control Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duncan, G.; Kitt, P.; Leipner, G.A.; Whitaker, T.

2002-01-01

Technology transfer is one of the main arguments Norwegian companies have for getting involved in difficult markets like Angola. There is great need for sub sea technology in Angola, and Kvaerner Oilfield Products is one of the companies that have successfully fought for contracts in this lucrative market. Field operator TotalFinaElf Exploration and Production Angola has awarded Kvaerner Oilfield Products a USD 3.1 million contract for pre-engineering and qualification testing of the sub sea production systems for the Dalia field offshore Angola. Kvaerner Oilfield Products has already started pre-engineering and testing activity. The sub sea production system includes 42 Xmas trees for controlling the well stream, nine manifolds as well as related control equipment. As sub sea technology improves and advances, equipment that is more complex is being placed on the seabed and downhole environments. Factors such as the cost of the umbilical, increased noise immunity and speed requirements will almost certainly result in optical communications being widely adopted for future system designs. However; in the immediate future operators are likely to insist on backup electrical communications due to the immaturity of certain aspects such as Wetmate optical connectors, fibre handling and fibre degradation. Perhaps the single greatest advantage of open standard sub sea networking is derived from the exploitation of the growing range of third party intelligent instrumentation available on the market. This instrumentation when properly integrated into a sensor to boardroom data management system allows unparalleled control to be delivered to the user at a total cost of installation which can be radically less than conventional technology. It can provide a compelling case for adoption of true open standards. In order to deliver power over any significant distance it is necessary to consider the losses in the transmission medium. The major constraint in the sub sea industry is

Adaptive variable structure control for uncertain chaotic systems containing dead-zone nonlinearity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, J.-J.; Shyu, K.-K.; Lin, J.-S.

2005-01-01

This paper addresses a practical tracking problem for a class of uncertain chaotic systems with dead-zone nonlinearity in the input function. Based on the Lyapunov stability theorem and Barbalat lemma, an adaptive variable structure controller (AVSC) is proposed to ensure the occurrence of the sliding mode even though the control input contains a dead-zone. Also it is worthy of note that the proposed AVSC involves no information of the upper bound of uncertainty. Thus, the limitation of knowing the bound of uncertainty in advance is certainly released. Furthermore, in the sliding mode, the investigated uncertain chaotic system remains insensitive to the uncertainty, and behaves like a linear system. Finally, a well-known Duffing-Holmes chaotic system is used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed AVSC

Tuning method for multi-variable control system with PID controllers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujiwara, Toshitaka

1983-01-01

Control systems, including thermal and nuclear power plants, generally and mainly use PID controllers consisting of proportional, integral and differential actions. These systems consist of multiple control loops which interfere with each other. Therefore, it is present status that the fine control of the system is carried out by the trial and error method because the adjusting procedure for a single control loop cannot be applied to a multi-loop system in most cases. In this report, a method to effectively adjust PID controller parameters in a short time in a control system which consists of multi-loops that interfere with each other. This method makes adjustment by using the control area as the evaluation function, which is the time-dependent integration of control deviation, the input to the PID controllers. In other words, the evaluation function is provided for each control result for every parameter (gain constant, reset rate, and differentiation time), and all parameters are simultaneously changed in the direction of minimizing the values of these evaluation functions. In the report, the principle of tuning method, the evaluation function for each of three parameters, and the adjusting system configuration for separately using for actual plant tuning and for control system design are described. It also shows the examples of application to the actual tuning of the control system for a thermal power plant and to a control system design. (Wakatsuki, Y.)

Replacement of the complete control system of the NPP Oskarshamn 1 by digital distributed control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, E.

1998-01-01

As part of an ongoing modernization program, the I and C system and the control room of Oskarshamn 1 will be upgraded by ABB using its 'Advant Power' range of digital, programmable process control system. Besides ensuring the higher level of safety that is demanded today, the new equipment provides the plant with an integrated system which will improve operator interaction with the plant and reduce the risk of human error. The newly installed DCS system will serve also as a platform for further improvements of the control room. This paper discusses Oskarshamn 1 exchange of the complete control system of a nuclear power plant, the technical solution and the time schedule. Oskarshamn 1 is the first nuclear power plant in Sweden. It is a boiling water reactor built between 1966 and 1971 by ABB ATOM in Sweden. According to the plant age the control system is relay-based, while instrumentation and analogue control is semiconductor-based. This makes maintenance expensive and even worse, makes extensions nearly impossible. According to the safety standards of the 1960s, there is no separation between safety and non safety control and no seismic qualification. To extend the life of this plant the owner has decided to improve the safety system as well as to replace the reactor protection system, the safety related control and the non safety related control by a state-of-the-art digital distributed control system from ABB. In March 1997, ABB got the order to replace the reactor protection system, the safety control system and to start the replacement of all control systems. The old control room has to be replaced by a new ergonomically design. Together with the exchange of the control system the safety features of the plant and the emergency power supply has to be extended. (author)

Manufacturing systems considered as time domain control systems : receding horizon control and observers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roset, B.J.P.

2007-01-01

This thesis considers manufacturing systems and model-based controller design, as well as their combinations. The objective of a manufacturing system is to create products from a selected group of raw materials and semifinished goods. In the field of manufacturing systems control is an important

neural control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elshazly, A.A.E.

2002-01-01

Automatic power stabilization control is the desired objective for any reactor operation , especially, nuclear power plants. A major problem in this area is inevitable gap between a real plant ant the theory of conventional analysis and the synthesis of linear time invariant systems. in particular, the trajectory tracking control of a nonlinear plant is a class of problems in which the classical linear transfer function methods break down because no transfer function can represent the system over the entire operating region . there is a considerable amount of research on the model-inverse approach using feedback linearization technique. however, this method requires a prices plant model to implement the exact linearizing feedback, for nuclear reactor systems, this approach is not an easy task because of the uncertainty in the plant parameters and un-measurable state variables . therefore, artificial neural network (ANN) is used either in self-tuning control or in improving the conventional rule-based exper system.the main objective of this thesis is to suggest an ANN, based self-learning controller structure . this method is capable of on-line reinforcement learning and control for a nuclear reactor with a totally unknown dynamics model. previously, researches are based on back- propagation algorithm . back -propagation (BP), fast back -propagation (FBP), and levenberg-marquardt (LM), algorithms are discussed and compared for reinforcement learning. it is found that, LM algorithm is quite superior

RHIC control system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barton, D.S. E-mail: dsbarton@bnl.gov; Binello, S.; Buxton, W.; Clifford, T.; D' Ottavio, T.; Hartmann, H.; Hoff, L.T.; Katz, R.; Kennell, S.; Kerner, T.; Laster, J.; Lee, R.C.; Marusic, A.; Michnoff, R.; Morris, J.; Oerter, B.R.; Olsen, R.; Piacentino, J.; Skelly, J.F

2003-03-01

The RHIC control system architecture is hierarchical and consists of two physical layers with a fiber-optic network connection. The Front-End Level systems consist of VME chassis with processors running a real-time operating system and both VME I/O modules and remote bus interfaces. Accelerator device software interfaces are implemented as objects in C++. The network implementation uses high speed, switched Ethernet technology. Specialized hardware modules were built for waveform control of power supplies, multiplexed signal acquisition, and timing services. The Console Level systems are Unix workstations. A strong emphasis has been given to developing highly reusable, standard software tools for use in building physics and diagnostic application software.

RHIC control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barton, D.S.; Binello, S.; Buxton, W.; Clifford, T.; D'Ottavio, T.; Hartmann, H.; Hoff, L.T.; Katz, R.; Kennell, S.; Kerner, T.; Laster, J.; Lee, R.C.; Marusic, A.; Michnoff, R.; Morris, J.; Oerter, B.R.; Olsen, R.; Piacentino, J.; Skelly, J.F.

2003-01-01

The RHIC control system architecture is hierarchical and consists of two physical layers with a fiber-optic network connection. The Front-End Level systems consist of VME chassis with processors running a real-time operating system and both VME I/O modules and remote bus interfaces. Accelerator device software interfaces are implemented as objects in C++. The network implementation uses high speed, switched Ethernet technology. Specialized hardware modules were built for waveform control of power supplies, multiplexed signal acquisition, and timing services. The Console Level systems are Unix workstations. A strong emphasis has been given to developing highly reusable, standard software tools for use in building physics and diagnostic application software

Energy Efficiency of Distributed Environmental Control Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khalifa, H. Ezzat; Isik, Can; Dannenhoffer, John F. III

2011-02-23

In this report, we present an analytical evaluation of the potential of occupant-regulated distributed environmental control systems (DECS) to enhance individual occupant thermal comfort in an office building with no increase, and possibly even a decrease in annual energy consumption. To this end we developed and applied several analytical models that allowed us to optimize comfort and energy consumption in partitioned office buildings equipped with either conventional central HVAC systems or occupant-regulated DECS. Our approach involved the following interrelated components: 1. Development of a simplified lumped-parameter thermal circuit model to compute the annual energy consumption. This was necessitated by the need to perform tens of thousands of optimization calculations involving different US climatic regions, and different occupant thermal preferences of a population of ~50 office occupants. Yearly transient simulations using TRNSYS, a time-dependent building energy modeling program, were run to determine the robustness of the simplified approach against time-dependent simulations. The simplified model predicts yearly energy consumption within approximately 0.6% of an equivalent transient simulation. Simulations of building energy usage were run for a wide variety of climatic regions and control scenarios, including traditional “one-size-fits-all” (OSFA) control; providing a uniform temperature to the entire building, and occupant-selected “have-it-your-way” (HIYW) control with a thermostat at each workstation. The thermal model shows that, un-optimized, DECS would lead to an increase in building energy consumption between 3-16% compared to the conventional approach depending on the climate regional and personal preferences of building occupants. Variations in building shape had little impact in the relative energy usage. 2. Development of a gradient-based optimization method to minimize energy consumption of DECS while keeping each occupant�

Multicopter control with Navio using REX control system

Science.gov (United States)

Golembiovsky, Matej; Dedek, Jan; Ozana, Stepan

2017-06-01

This article deals with study of possible connection of the REXcontrols platform with Raspberry Pi based control system and Navio2 expansion board. This board is designed for development of autonomous robotic platforms type car, plane or multicopter. In this article, control system REXcontrols is introduced and its integration possibilities for control board Navio2 are discussed. The main discussed aspects are communication possibilities of the REXcontrols system with external scripts which further on allow control of this board. The main reasons for this undertaking are vast possibilities of archiving, visualization, signal processing and control which REXcontrols system allows. The control itself of the navio2 board is done through numerous interfaces. Specifically it is a pair of SPI data buses, an I2C data bus, UART and multiple GPIO pins. However, since REXcontrols control system has only limited access to these data buses, it is necessary to establish the communication through external scripts. For this purpose REXcontrols is equipped with mechanisms; SILO, EPC and REXLANG which are described in the article. Due to its simple implementation into REXcontrols and the option to utilize available libraries for communication with Navio2 board in external script, an EPC block was selected for the final implementation.

TMX magnet control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goerz, D.A.

1978-01-01

A control system utilizing a microcomputer has been developed that controls the power supplies driving the Tandem Mirror Experiment (TMX) magnet set and monitors magnet coil operation. The magnet set consists of 18 magnet coils that are driven by 26 dc power supplies. There are two possible modes of operation with this system: a pulse mode where the coils are pulsed on for several seconds with a dc power consumption of 16 MW; and a continuous mode where the coils can run steady state at 10 percent of maximum current ratings. The processor has been given an active control role and serves as an interface between the operator and electronic circuitry that controls the magnet power supplies. This microcomputer also collects and processes data from many analog singal monitors in the coil circuits and numerous status signals from the supplies. Placing the microcomputer in an active control role has yielded a compact, cost effective system that simplifies the magnet system operation and has proven to be very reliable. This paper will describe the TMX magnet control sytem and discuss its development

Thermography imaging during static and controlled thermoregulation in complex regional pain syndrome type 1: diagnostic value and involvement of the central sympathetic system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Westra Mirjam

2006-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Complex Regional Pain Syndrome type 1 (CRPS1 is a clinical diagnosis based on criteria describing symptoms of the disease. The main aim of the present study was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of calculation methods used to assess thermographic images (infrared imaging obtained during temperature provocation. The secondary objective was to obtain information about the involvement of the sympathetic system in CRPS1. Methods We studied 12 patients in whom CRPS1 was diagnosed according to the criteria of Bruehl. High and low whole body cooling and warming induced and reduced sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity. The degree of vasoconstrictor activity in both hands was monitored using a videothermograph. The sensitivity and specificity of the calculation methods used to assess the thermographic images were calculated. Results The temperature difference between the hands in the CRPS patients increases significantly when the sympathetic system is provoked. At both the maximum and minimum vasoconstriction no significant differences were found in fingertip temperatures between both hands. Conclusion The majority of CRPS1 patients do not show maximal obtainable temperature differences between the involved and contralateral extremity at room temperature (static measurement. During cold and warm temperature challenges this temperature difference increases significantly. As a result a higher sensitivity and specificity could be achieved in the diagnosis of CRPS1. These findings suggest that the sympathetic efferent system is involved in CRPS1.

Observer-Based Robust Control for Hydraulic Velocity Control System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Shen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the problems of robust stabilization and robust control for the secondary component speed control system with parameters uncertainty and load disturbance. The aim is to enhance the control performance of hydraulic system based on Common Pressure Rail (CPR. Firstly, a mathematical model is presented to describe the hydraulic control system. Then a novel observer is proposed, and an observed-based control strategy is designed such that the closed-loop system is asymptotically stable and satisfies the disturbance attenuation level. The condition for the existence of the developed controller can by efficiently solved by using the MATLAB software. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

THE RELATION OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE WORK SYSTEMS WITH EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bilal AFSAR

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The basic aim of high performance work systems is to enable employees to exercise decision making, leading to flexibility, innovation, improvement and skill sharing. By facilitating the development of high performance work systems we help organizations make continuous improvement a way of life.The notion of a high-performance work system (HPWS constitutes a claim that there exists a system of work practices for core workers in an organisation that leads in some way to superior performance. This article will discuss the relation that HPWS has with the improvement of firms’ performance and high involvement of the employees.

Prevalence and characteristics of central nervous system involvement by chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Strati, Paolo; Uhm, Joon H; Kaufmann, Timothy J; Nabhan, Chadi; Parikh, Sameer A; Hanson, Curtis A; Chaffee, Kari G; Call, Timothy G; Shanafelt, Tait D

2016-04-01

Abroad array of conditions can lead to neurological symptoms in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients and distinguishing between clinically significant involvement of the central nervous system by chronic lymphocytic leukemia and symptoms due to other etiologies can be challenging. Between January 1999 and November 2014, 172 (4%) of the 4174 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia followed at our center had a magnetic resonance imaging of the central nervous system and/or a lumbar puncture to evaluate neurological symptoms. After comprehensive evaluation, the etiology of neurological symptoms was: central nervous system chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 18 patients (10% evaluated by imaging and/or lumbar puncture, 0.4% overall cohort); central nervous system Richter Syndrome in 15 (9% evaluated, 0.3% overall); infection in 40 (23% evaluated, 1% overall); autoimmune/inflammatory conditions in 28 (16% evaluated, 0.7% overall); other cancer in 8 (5% evaluated, 0.2% overall); and another etiology in 63 (37% evaluated, 1.5% overall). Although the sensitivity of cerebrospinal fluid analysis to detect central nervous system disease was 89%, the specificity was only 42% due to the frequent presence of leukemic cells in the cerebrospinal fluid in other conditions. No parameter on cerebrospinal fluid analysis (e.g. total nucleated cells, total lymphocyte count, chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell percentage) were able to offer a reliable discrimination between patients whose neurological symptoms were due to clinically significant central nervous system involvement by chronic lymphocytic leukemia and another etiology. Median overall survival among patients with clinically significant central nervous system chronic lymphocytic leukemia and Richter syndrome was 12 and 11 months, respectively. In conclusion, clinically significant central nervous system involvement by chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a rare condition, and neurological symptoms in patients with chronic lymphocytic

Radiation protection service for a nucleonic control system of continuous casting plant after events of accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chakrabarti, Santanu; Massand, O.P.

1998-01-01

Extensive use of nucleonic control systems like level controllers was observed during radiation protection surveys in industries such as refineries, steel plants etc., located in the eastern region of India. There were two accidents at continuous casting plant in 1995 which affected the nucleonic control system installed in 1992. The authorities contacted Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) for radiation protection surveys for the involved nucleonic gauges. The present paper describes the radiation protection services rendered by BARC during such accidents. (author)

Computerized supervision and control system for movement at the RP-10 reactor control rods bank

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padilla M, C.E.

1998-01-01

The project involves the use of a compatible microcomputer, Labwindows/CVI software, as well as National Instruments data acquisition cards AT-MIO16-E10 and PC-DIO96 to modify the sequence of movement of the reactor's rods and control them from a graphic interface in a computer's monitor. This graphic presentation is set as console of virtual instruments from where rod movement can be conducted. Normal rod movement, bank rod movement, and rod calibration have been considered. These experiences involve different logic of rod movements, which will determine movement sequence. Control of the automatic range of a current amplifier module was also considered. This module is know as 'automatic pilot amplifier' and given the strategic location of its detector (compensated ionizing camera) at the reactor's core, it delivers neutron flux current considered as reference to superficial neutron flux distribution at the reactor's core. Lecture and monitoring of this signal allows taking the reactor to a certain power, current of this signal is proportional to the power we want the reactor to reach. Advantages obtained with this system include the update of the control console, more uniform distribution of neutron flux, with lower and uniform burnup of nuclear fuel. (author)

Job Involvement and Organizational Commitment of Employees of Prehospital Emergency Medical System.

Science.gov (United States)

Rahati, Alireza; Sotudeh-Arani, Hossein; Adib-Hajbaghery, Mohsen; Rostami, Majid

2015-12-01

Several studies are available on organizational commitment of employees in different organizations. However, the organizational commitment and job involvement of the employees in the prehospital emergency medical system (PEMS) of Iran have largely been ignored. This study aimed to investigate the organizational commitment and job involvement of the employees of PEMS and the relationship between these two issues. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 employees of Kashan PEMS who were selected through a census method in 2014. A 3-part instrument was used in this study, including a demographic questionnaire, the Allen and Miller's organizational commitment inventory, and the Lodahl and Kejner's job involvement inventory. We used descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation coefficient, Kruskal-Wallis, Friedman, analysis of variance, and Tukey post hoc tests to analyze the data. The mean job involvement and organizational commitment scores were 61.78 ± 10.69 and 73.89 ± 13.58, respectively. The mean scores of job involvement and organizational commitment were significantly different in subjects with different work experiences (P = 0.043 and P = 0.012, respectively). However, no significant differences were observed between the mean scores of organizational commitment and job involvement in subjects with different fields of study, different levels of interest in the profession, and various educational levels. A direct significant correlation was found between the total scores of organizational commitment and job involvement of workers in Kashan PEMS (r = 0.910, P organizational commitment and about two-thirds of the job involvement score. Therefore, the higher level managers of the emergency medical system are advised to implement some strategies to increase the employees' job involvement and organizational commitment.

Involvement in the US criminal justice system and cost implications for persons treated for schizophrenia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Faries Douglas E

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Individuals with schizophrenia may have a higher risk of encounters with the criminal justice system than the general population, but there are limited data on such encounters and their attendant costs. This study assessed the prevalence of encounters with the criminal justice system, encounter types, and the estimated cost attributable to these encounters in the one-year treatment of persons with schizophrenia. Methods This post-hoc analysis used data from a prospective one-year cost-effectiveness study of persons treated with antipsychotics for schizophrenia and related disorders in the United States. Criminal justice system involvement was assessed using the Schizophrenia Patients Outcome Research Team (PORT client survey and the victimization subscale of the Lehman Quality of Life Interview (QOLI. Direct cost of criminal justice system involvement was estimated using previously reported costs per type of encounter. Patients with and without involvement were compared on baseline characteristics and direct annual health care and criminal justice system-related costs. Results Overall, 278 (46% of 609 participants reported at least 1 criminal justice system encounter. They were more likely to be substance users and less adherent to antipsychotics compared to participants without involvement. The 2 most prevalent types of encounters were being a victim of a crime (67% and being on parole or probation (26%. The mean annual per-patient cost of involvement was $1,429, translating to 6% of total annual direct health care costs for those with involvement (11% when excluding crime victims. Conclusions Criminal justice system involvement appears to be prevalent and costly for persons treated for schizophrenia in the United States. Findings highlight the need to better understand the interface between the mental health and the criminal justice systems and the related costs, in personal, societal, and economic terms.

FY 1983 annual report on the research and development of automatic sewing systems. System management/control techniques; 1983 nendo jido hosei system no kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. System kanri seigyo gijutsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1984-03-01

The automatic sewing system technique research association has been commissioned by the Agency of Industrial Science and Technology for (research and development of automatic sewing systems). This program covers R and D of the elementary techniques for total systems and sewing preparation/processing, sewing/assembling, cloth handling, and system management/control. This report describes the results of the R and D efforts for the system management/control techniques. The program for the system management/control techniques involves, first of all, the basic designs for the overall system management, centered by the optimum process configuration and control for reducing lead time of an automatic sewing plant by at least 50% from the current level, based on the production schedules of an apparel maker. The basic designs are then extended to cover examination of defective products at each step, examination and failure diagnosis for prediction, detection and exchange of failed machine parts, systemisation of necessary information to be provided for automatic operation of a sewing plant and providing control-related information, including selection of information media, and information recognition by processing images of cloth and surface conditions/shapes of machine parts. (NEDO)

Reset Control Systems

CERN Document Server

Baños, Alfonso

2012-01-01

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

Delays and networked control systems

CERN Document Server

Hetel, Laurentiu; Daafouz, Jamal; Johansson, Karl

2016-01-01

This edited monograph includes state-of-the-art contributions on continuous time dynamical networks with delays. The book is divided into four parts. The first part presents tools and methods for the analysis of time-delay systems with a particular attention on control problems of large scale or infinite-dimensional systems with delays. The second part of the book is dedicated to the use of time-delay models for the analysis and design of Networked Control Systems. The third part of the book focuses on the analysis and design of systems with asynchronous sampling intervals which occur in Networked Control Systems. The last part of the book exposes several contributions dealing with the design of cooperative control and observation laws for networked control systems. The target audience primarily comprises researchers and experts in the field of control theory, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students. .

Evaporation monitoring and composition control of alloy systems with widely differing vapor pressures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anklam, T.M.; Berzins, L.V.; Braun, D.G.; Haynam, C.; McClelland, M.A.; Meier, T.

1994-10-01

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is developing sensors and controls to improve and extend electron beam materials processing technology to alloy systems with constituents of widely varying vapor pressure. The approach under development involves using tunable lasers to measure the density and composition of the vapor plume. A laser based vaporizer control system for vaporization of a uranium-iron alloy has been previously demonstrated in multi-hundred hour, high rate vaporization experiments at LLNL. This paper reviews the design and performance of the uranium vaporization sensor and control system and discusses the extension of the technology to monitoring of uranium vaporization. Data is presented from an experiment in which titanium wire was fed into a molten niobium pool. Laser data is compared to deposited film composition and film cross sections. Finally, the potential for using this technique for composition control in melting applications is discussed

Distributed systems status and control

Science.gov (United States)

Kreidler, David; Vickers, David

1990-01-01

Concepts are investigated for an automated status and control system for a distributed processing environment. System characteristics, data requirements for health assessment, data acquisition methods, system diagnosis methods and control methods were investigated in an attempt to determine the high-level requirements for a system which can be used to assess the health of a distributed processing system and implement control procedures to maintain an accepted level of health for the system. A potential concept for automated status and control includes the use of expert system techniques to assess the health of the system, detect and diagnose faults, and initiate or recommend actions to correct the faults. Therefore, this research included the investigation of methods by which expert systems were developed for real-time environments and distributed systems. The focus is on the features required by real-time expert systems and the tools available to develop real-time expert systems.

Involvement of older people in the development of fall detection systems: a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Thilo, Friederike J S; Hürlimann, Barbara; Hahn, Sabine; Bilger, Selina; Schols, Jos M G A; Halfens, Ruud J G

2016-02-11

The involvement of users is recommended in the development of health related technologies, in order to address their needs and preferences and to improve the daily usage of these technologies. The objective of this literature review was to identify the nature and extent of research involving older people in the development of fall detection systems. A scoping review according to the framework of Arksey and O'Malley was carried out. A key term search was employed in eight relevant databases. Included articles were summarized using a predetermined charting form and subsequently thematically analysed. A total of 53 articles was included. In 49 of the 53 articles, older people were involved in the design and/or testing stages, and in 4 of 53 articles, they were involved in the conceptual or market deployment stages. In 38 of the 53 articles, the main focus of the involvement of older people was technical aspects. In 15 of the 53 articles, the perspectives of the elderly related to the fall detection system under development were determined using focus groups, single interviews or questionnaires. Until presently, involvement of older people in the development of fall detection systems has focused mainly on technical aspects. Little attention has been given to the specific needs and views of older people in the context of fall detection system development and usage.

Analog and digital appliance technology for the control and monitoring of space HVAC systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gyoeri, M

1987-01-01

Both analog and digital devices are expected to meet the required control functions. The analog control device meets this function by way of a complicated circuitry and wiring technology of varying sophistication. In the digital control by a preprogrammed microprocessor. Digital technology allows to use the copied programme in different devices. Any change in the control of a system can be implemented and met by a programme change in digital technology. In analog technology, this change involves a change in wiring. (orig./HW).

Performance Guaranteed Inertia Emulation forDiesel-Wind System Feed Microgrid via ModelReference Control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melin, Alexander M. [ORNL; Zhang, Yichen [University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Djouadi, Seddik [University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Olama, Mohammed M. [ORNL

2017-04-01

In this paper, a model reference control based inertia emulation strategy is proposed. Desired inertia can be precisely emulated through this control strategy so that guaranteed performance is ensured. A typical frequency response model with parametrical inertia is set to be the reference model. A measurement at a specific location delivers the information of disturbance acting on the diesel-wind system to the referencemodel. The objective is for the speed of the diesel-wind system to track the reference model. Since active power variation is dominantly governed by mechanical dynamics and modes, only mechanical dynamics and states, i.e., a swing-engine-governor system plus a reduced-order wind turbine generator, are involved in the feedback control design. The controller is implemented in a three-phase diesel-wind system feed microgrid. The results show exact synthetic inertia is emulated, leading to guaranteed performance and safety bounds.

Upgrading the BEPC control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Liping; Wang Lizheng; Liu Shiyao

1992-01-01

The BEPC control system has been put into operation and operated normally since the end of 1987. Three years's experience shows this system can satisfy basically the operation requirements, also exhibits some disadvantages araised from the original centralized system architecture based on the VAX-VCC-CAMAC, such as slow response, bottle neck of VCC, less CPU power for control etc.. This paper describes the method and procedure for upgrading the BEPC control system which will be based on DEC net and DEC-WS, and thus intend to upgrade the control system architecture from the centralized to the distributed and improve the integral system performance. (author)

Characterization of gradient control systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cortés, Jorge; van der Schaft, Arjan; Crouch, Peter E.

2005-01-01

Given a general nonlinear affine control system with outputs and a torsion-free affine connection defined on its state space, we investigate the gradient realization problem: we give necessary and sufficient conditions under which the control system can be written as a gradient control system

Characterization of Gradient Control Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cortés, Jorge; Schaft, Arjan van der; Crouch, Peter E.

2005-01-01

Given a general nonlinear affine control system with outputs and a torsion-free affine connection defined on its state space, we investigate the gradient realization problem: we give necessary and sufficient conditions under which the control system can be written as a gradient control system

Computer-aided control system design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lebenhaft, J.R.

1986-01-01

Control systems are typically implemented using conventional PID controllers, which are then tuned manually during plant commissioning to compensate for interactions between feedback loops. As plants increase in size and complexity, such controllers can fail to provide adequate process regulations. Multivariable methods can be utilized to overcome these limitations. At the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, modern control systems are designed and analyzed with the aid of MVPACK, a system of computer programs that appears to the user like a high-level calculator. The software package solves complicated control problems, and provides useful insight into the dynamic response and stability of multivariable systems

Constructing a LabVIEW-Controlled High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) System: An Undergraduate Instrumental Methods Exercise

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Eugene T.; Hill, Marc

2011-01-01

In this laboratory exercise, students develop a LabVIEW-controlled high-performance liquid chromatography system utilizing a data acquisition device, two pumps, a detector, and fraction collector. The programming experience involves a variety of methods for interface communication, including serial control, analog-to-digital conversion, and…

HoMuCS - A methodology and architecture for Holonic Multi-cell Control Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Langer, Gilad

it in practice. An iterative developmentprocess was used to obtain the empiricalbasis for the research work. This involved development of prototypes aimed at testing the feasibility of the theory and investigating its applicability. The main issue that the prototypes were tested for was their agile performance...... as the hypothesis of the research. Firstly that it is possible to realise holonic systems based on the HMS theory, specifically its reference architecture, and secondly that they are in fact agile. Itpresents the concept of a Holonic Multi-cell Control System system-architecture and corresponding methodology, which...... suggests a solution for realising an agile shop floor control system. The current state of the technological development of the HoMuCS architecture and methodology is described....