Model-based design of supervisory controllers for baggage handling systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Swartjes, L.; van Beek, D.A.; Fokkink, W.J.; van Eekelen, J.A.W.M.

2017-01-01

The complexity of airport baggage handling systems in combination with the required high level of robustness makes designing supervisory controllers for these systems a challenging task. We show how a state of the art, formal, model-based design framework has been successfully used for model-based

An Adaptive Supervisory Sliding Fuzzy Cerebellar Model Articulation Controller for Sensorless Vector-Controlled Induction Motor Drive Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shun-Yuan Wang

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the implementation of an adaptive supervisory sliding fuzzy cerebellar model articulation controller (FCMAC in the speed sensorless vector control of an induction motor (IM drive system. The proposed adaptive supervisory sliding FCMAC comprised a supervisory controller, integral sliding surface, and an adaptive FCMAC. The integral sliding surface was employed to eliminate steady-state errors and enhance the responsiveness of the system. The adaptive FCMAC incorporated an FCMAC with a compensating controller to perform a desired control action. The proposed controller was derived using the Lyapunov approach, which guarantees learning-error convergence. The implementation of three intelligent control schemes—the adaptive supervisory sliding FCMAC, adaptive sliding FCMAC, and adaptive sliding CMAC—were experimentally investigated under various conditions in a realistic sensorless vector-controlled IM drive system. The root mean square error (RMSE was used as a performance index to evaluate the experimental results of each control scheme. The analysis results indicated that the proposed adaptive supervisory sliding FCMAC substantially improved the system performance compared with the other control schemes.

Discrete Event Supervisory Control Applied to Propulsion Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Litt, Jonathan S.; Shah, Neerav

2005-01-01

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

Process theory for supervisory control of stochastic systems with data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Markovski, J.

2012-01-01

We propose a process theory for supervisory control of stochastic nondeterministic plants with data-based observations. The Markovian process theory with data relies on the notion of Markovian partial bisimulation to capture controllability of stochastic nondeterministic systems. It presents a

Supervisory monitoring system in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciftcioglu, O.; Turkcan, E.

1997-01-01

Monitoring of a power plant is one of the essential tasks during operation and the computer-based implementations are nowadays seemingly quite mature. However, presently these are still not satisfactory enough to meet the high standards to the licensing requirements and they are mostly not truly integrated to the plant's design-based monitoring system. This is basically due to the robustness problem as the majority of the methods are not robust enough for the monitoring of the safety parameter set in a plant or intelligent supervision. Therefore, a supervisory monitoring system (SMS) in a plant is necessary to supervise the monitoring tasks: determining the objectives to be obtained and finding the means to support them. SMS deals with the changing plant status and the coordination of the information flow among the monitoring subunits. By means of these robustness and consistency in monitoring is achieved. The paper will give the guidelines of knowledge and data management techniques in a framework of robust comprehensive and coordinated monitoring which is presented as supervisory monitoring. Such a high level monitoring serves for consistent and immediate actions in fault situations while this particularly has vital importance in preventing imminent severe accidents next to the issues of recognition of the monitoring procedures for licensing and enhanced plant safety. (author). 8 refs, 5 figs

Supervisory, hierarchical control for a multimodular ALMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otaduy, P.J.; Brittain, C.R.; Rovere, L.A.

1989-01-01

This paper describes the directions and present status of research in supervisory control for multimodular nuclear plants at ORNL as part of DOE's advanced controls program ACTO. The hierarchical supervisory structure envisioned for a PRISM-like supervisor closest to the process actuators and how it has actually been implemented for demonstration in a network of CPU's is presented next. Two demonstrations of supervisory control with an expert system are also described, one for control of a plant with a single reactor and turbine, the other for control of a plant with three reactors and one turbine. An appendix contains the mathematical basis for the novel approach to large scale system decomposition we have used in the demonstrations of supervisory distributed control of the single reactor plant. 6 refs., 5 figs

Behavior coordination of mobile robotics using supervisory control of fuzzy discrete event systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Jayasiri, Awantha; Mann, George K I; Gosine, Raymond G

2011-10-01

In order to incorporate the uncertainty and impreciseness present in real-world event-driven asynchronous systems, fuzzy discrete event systems (DESs) (FDESs) have been proposed as an extension to crisp DESs. In this paper, first, we propose an extension to the supervisory control theory of FDES by redefining fuzzy controllable and uncontrollable events. The proposed supervisor is capable of enabling feasible uncontrollable and controllable events with different possibilities. Then, the extended supervisory control framework of FDES is employed to model and control several navigational tasks of a mobile robot using the behavior-based approach. The robot has limited sensory capabilities, and the navigations have been performed in several unmodeled environments. The reactive and deliberative behaviors of the mobile robotic system are weighted through fuzzy uncontrollable and controllable events, respectively. By employing the proposed supervisory controller, a command-fusion-type behavior coordination is achieved. The observability of fuzzy events is incorporated to represent the sensory imprecision. As a systematic analysis of the system, a fuzzy-state-based controllability measure is introduced. The approach is implemented in both simulation and real time. A performance evaluation is performed to quantitatively estimate the validity of the proposed approach over its counterparts.

Supervisory Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (SANFIS Design for Empirical Test of Mobile Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Jen Mon

2012-10-01

Full Text Available A supervisory Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System (SANFIS is proposed for the empirical control of a mobile robot. This controller includes an ANFIS controller and a supervisory controller. The ANFIS controller is off-line tuned by an adaptive fuzzy inference system, the supervisory controller is designed to compensate for the approximation error between the ANFIS controller and the ideal controller, and drive the trajectory of the system onto a specified surface (called the sliding surface or switching surface while maintaining the trajectory onto this switching surface continuously to guarantee the system stability. This SANFIS controller can achieve favourable empirical control performance of the mobile robot in the empirical tests of driving the mobile robot with a square path. Practical experimental results demonstrate that the proposed SANFIS can achieve better control performance than that achieved using an ANFIS controller for empirical control of the mobile robot.

The Davros III supervisory control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rice, P.

1996-01-01

Magnox Electric's Remote Operations Branch deploy a wide variety of remote inspection and maintenance tools into nuclear plant in order to perform a variety of tasks. In recent years much progress has been made on low-level control of individual manipulator axes, and a parallel need has emerged for a supervisory system to assist the operator in the control of the whole system. Some requirements are: 1) to improve operator control of systems; 2) to simplify software maintenance and version control; 3) to reduce the likelihood of damage to manipulators; 4) to assist with rehearsals and simulations. Davros III is a PC software system which has been developed over a number of years to address these requirements. In a single program capable of being configured for a wide variety of applications, it provides a technique for following pretaught routes, a comprehensive and fully configurable interlock system and several different facilities for simulation. (author)

The Davros III supervisory control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rice, P.

1996-01-01

Magnox Electric's Remote Operations Bbranch deploy a wide variety of remote inspection and maintenance tools into nuclear plant in order to perform a variety of tasks. In recent years much progress has been made on low-level control of individual manipulator axes and a parallel need has emerged for a supervisory system to assist the operator in the control of the whole system. Some requirements are: 1, To improve operator control of systems. 2, To simplify software maintenance and version control. 3, To reduce the likelihood of damage to manipulators. 4, To assist with rehearsals and simulations. Davros III is a PC software system which has been developed over a number of years to address these requirements. In a single program capable of being configured for a wide variety of applications, it provides a technique for following pretaught routes, a comprehensive and fully configurable interlock system and several different facilities for simulation. (author)

Model-Based Engineering of Supervisory Controllers using CIF

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schiffelers, R.R.H.; Theunissen, R.J.M.; Beek, van D.A.; Rooda, J.E.; Levendovsky, T.; Lengyel, L.

2009-01-01

In the Model-Based Engineering (MBE) paradigm, models are the core elements in the design process of a system from its requirements to the actual implementation of the system. By means of Supervisory Control Theory (SCT), supervisory controllers (supervisors) can be synthesized instead of

A distributed hierarchical architecture of expert systems for supervisory control of multimodular nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otaduy, P.J.; Brittain, C.R.; Rovere, L.A.; Gove, N.B.

1991-01-01

A hierarchical supervisory control architecture has being implemented at ORNL to coordinate the controllers of a multimodular nuclear plant. The supervisory controller form a network of distributed expert system interfaced with a real-time simulation of the plant, the plant's automatic controllers, and the human operator. The main goal of the supervisory controllers is to maintain the plant operating within safety envelopes while optimizing availability, minimizing stress to components and operators, and facilitating operations. Representative rules implementing strategies for situation dependent reassignment of process goals by embedding diagnostics into the control philosophy are discussed. It should noted that the control philosophies here described use the ALMR concept for illustration purposes and are not part of the official ALMR design at this time. 3 refs., 1 fig

Critically Engaging "Mutually Engaged Supervisory Processes": A Proposed Theory for CPE Supervisory Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitchett, George; Altenbaumer, Mary L; Atta, Osofo Kwesi; Stowman, Sheryl Lyndes; Vlach, Kyle

2014-12-01

Revisions to the processes for training and certifying supervisors continue to be debated within the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). In 2012 Ragsdale and colleagues published, "Mutually engaged supervisory processes," a qualitative research study utilizing grounded theory based on interviews with 19 recently certified Associate CPE Supervisors, of nine components that facilitate the development of CPE supervisory education students. In this article we critically engage this theory and the research upon which it is based. We also reflect on three issues highlighted by the theory: personal transformation in CPE supervisory education, how CPE supervisory education students develop theoretical foundations for their work, and engaging multicultural issues in supervisory education. We conclude that this theory offers ACPE the possibility of using research to guide future modifications to its practice of Supervisory education. © 2014 Journal of Pastoral Care Publications Inc.

Supervisory control for a complex robotic system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, D.J.

1988-01-01

The Robotic Radiation Survey and Analysis System investigates the use of advanced robotic technology for performing remote radiation surveys on nuclear waste shipping casks. Robotic systems have the potential for reducing personnel exposure to radiation and providing fast reliable throughput at future repository sites. A primary technology issue is the integrated control of distributed specialized hardware through a modular supervisory software system. Automated programming of robot trajectories based upon mathematical models of the cask and robot coupled with sensory feedback enables flexible operation of a commercial gantry robot with the reliability needed to perform autonomous operations in a hazardous environment. Complexity is managed using structured software engineering techniques resulting in the generation of reusable command primitives which contribute to a software parts catalog for a generalized robot programming language

MFTF supervisory control and diagnostics system hardware

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butner, D.N.

1979-01-01

The Supervisory Control and Diagnostics System (SCDS) for the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) is a multiprocessor minicomputer system designed so that for most single-point failures, the hardware may be quickly reconfigured to provide continued operation of the experiment. The system is made up of nine Perkin-Elmer computers - a mixture of 8/32's and 7/32's. Each computer has ports on a shared memory system consisting of two independent shared memory modules. Each processor can signal other processors through hardware external to the shared memory. The system communicates with the Local Control and Instrumentation System, which consists of approximately 65 microprocessors. Each of the six system processors has facilities for communicating with a group of microprocessors; the groups consist of from four to 24 microprocessors. There are hardware switches so that if an SCDS processor communicating with a group of microprocessors fails, another SCDS processor takes over the communication

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.

Hierarchical Discrete Event Supervisory Control of Aircraft Propulsion Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Yasar, Murat; Tolani, Devendra; Ray, Asok; Shah, Neerav; Litt, Jonathan S.

2004-01-01

This paper presents a hierarchical application of Discrete Event Supervisory (DES) control theory for intelligent decision and control of a twin-engine aircraft propulsion system. A dual layer hierarchical DES controller is designed to supervise and coordinate the operation of two engines of the propulsion system. The two engines are individually controlled to achieve enhanced performance and reliability, necessary for fulfilling the mission objectives. Each engine is operated under a continuously varying control system that maintains the specified performance and a local discrete-event supervisor for condition monitoring and life extending control. A global upper level DES controller is designed for load balancing and overall health management of the propulsion system.

The new supervisory system of the ENEA'S TRIGA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bessenyei, Z.; Businaro, T.; Rabbani, M.I.

1986-01-01

The largest effect on the development of supervisory systems was caused by the TMI accident in 1979. Many-many regulation, testing and control requirements and operator aid systems have been born since that time. In the first phase fault model based systems were developed, but it has been turned out, the reality is more inventive, than the best fault model designer. In recent years the researchers' attention has turned to the supervision and diagnostic methods based on the comparison of the the behaviour of the plant and its model. This way is strongly supported by the exponential growth in the capability of the available computers. It is supposed that the description of the wanted behaviour of a plant is easier than gathering its possible disturbances and their consequences. The project on the ENEA's TRIGA supervisory system intends to solve the problems of a plant wide supervision. The new control room of the ENEA's TRIGA reactor will probably be realised in the second part of 1987. For information presentation and diagnostic purposes the multilevel flow modelling and the mimic method were chosen. The diagnostic concept of these two methods are process model based. Both of them have been planned to detect faults earlier than an accident occurs. Their way of information presentation is fundamentally different. The mimic version is an equipment oriented, symbolic, graphic method, where the components of the plant are represented by very simple graphic symbols, and the symbols are ordered into pictures, according to their real interconnections. Pictures with different detailness are interrelated in hierarchical order. The top picture contains the fully simplified technological scheme of the plant, with the most important variables. On the lowest level there are pictures of the equipments with their own descriptive variables. The color of the different parts of a picture gives qualitative information about the actual status of the plant, subsystems or equipments. The

Supervisory control system implemented in programmable logical controller web server

OpenAIRE

Milavec, Simon

2012-01-01

In this thesis, we study the feasibility of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system realisation in a web server of a programmable logic controller. With the introduction of Ethernet protocol to the area of process control, the more powerful programmable logic controllers obtained integrated web servers. The web server of a programmable logic controller, produced by Siemens, will also be described in this thesis. Firstly, the software and the hardware equipment used for real...

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.

The Supervisory Control System for the HL-2A Neutral Beam Injector

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bo; Li, Li; Feng, Kun; Wang, Xueyun; Yang, Jiaxing; Huang, Zhihui; Kang, Zihua; Wang, Mingwei; Zhang, Guoqing; Lei, Guangjiu; Rao, Jun

2009-06-01

Supervisory control and protection system of the neutral beam injector (NBI) in the HL-2A tokamak is presented. The system is used for a safe coordination of all the main NBI subsystems. Because the system is based on computer networks with its transmission medium of optical fiber, its advantages in high operational stability, reliability, security and flexible functional expandability are clearly shown during the NBI commissioning and heating experiment in HL-2A.

Supervisory control synthesis of discrete-event systems using a coordination scheme

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Komenda, Jan; Masopust, Tomáš; van Schuppen, J. H.

2012-01-01

Roč. 48, č. 2 (2012), s. 247-254 ISSN 0005-1098 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP103/11/0517; GA ČR GPP202/11/P028 Grant - others:European Commission(XE) EU.ICT.DISC 224498 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : discrete-event systems * supervisory control * distributed control * closed-loop systems * controllability Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 2.919, year: 2012 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005109811005395

Supervisory control synthesis of discrete-event systems using a coordination scheme

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Komenda, Jan; Masopust, Tomáš; van Schuppen, J. H.

2012-01-01

Roč. 48, č. 2 (2012), s. 247-254 ISSN 0005-1098 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP103/11/0517; GA ČR GPP202/11/P028 Grant - others:European Commission(XE) EU. ICT .DISC 224498 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : discrete-event systems * supervisory control * distributed control * closed-loop systems * controllability Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 2.919, year: 2012 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005109811005395

Assistance tools for generic definition of ITER maintenance tasks and scenarios in advanced supervisory control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zieba, Stéphane; Russotto, François-Xavier; Da Silva Simoes, Max; Measson, Yvan

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Improve supervisory control systems for ITER in-vessel and hot cell maintenance. ► Optimize remote handling operations effectiveness, reliability and safety. ► Provide a generic description of the maintenance tasks and scenarios. ► Development of context-based assistances for operators and supervisor. ► Improvement of operator's situation awareness. -- Abstract: This paper concerns the improvement of supervisory control systems in the context of remote handling for the maintenance tasks in ITER. This work aims at providing a single formalism and tools to define in a generic way the ITER maintenance tasks and scenarios for in-vessel and hot cell operations. A three-layered approach is proposed to model these tasks and scenarios. Physical actions are defined for the scene elements. From these physical actions, behaviours are defined to represent high-level functionalities. Finally, interaction modes define the way that behaviours are achieved in terms of human–machine interactions. Case study concerning the blanket maintenance procedure is discussed concerning the contributions of the descriptive model and the context-based assistances to the activities of supervisory control

SUPERVISORY CONTROL FOR PEAK REDUCTION IN COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS WHILE MAINTAINING COMFORT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nutaro, James J [ORNL; Olama, Mohammed M [ORNL; Kuruganti, Teja [ORNL

2016-01-01

This paper describes a supervisory control strategy for limiting peak power demand by small and medium commercial buildings while still meeting the business needs of the occupants. This control strategy has two features that make it relevant to new and existing buildings. First, it is designed to operate with building equipment, such as air conditioning and refrigeration systems, as they are presently installed in most small and medium commercial buildings. Because of this, the supervisory control could be realized as a software-only retrofit to existing building management systems. Second, the proposed control acts as a supervisory management layer over existing control systems, rather than replacing them outright. The primary idea of this approach is that the controls for individual building equipment request energy resources for a control action and the supervisory control examines the requests and decides which control actions to allow while satisfying a limit on peak power demand.

Advanced I&C for Fault-Tolerant Supervisory Control of Small Modular Reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cole, Daniel G. [Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

2018-01-30

In this research, we have developed a supervisory control approach to enable automated control of SMRs. By design the supervisory control system has an hierarchical, interconnected, adaptive control architecture. A considerable advantage to this architecture is that it allows subsystems to communicate at different/finer granularity, facilitates monitoring of process at the modular and plant levels, and enables supervisory control. We have investigated the deployment of automation, monitoring, and data collection technologies to enable operation of multiple SMRs. Each unit's controller collects and transfers information from local loops and optimize that unit’s parameters. Information is passed from the each SMR unit controller to the supervisory controller, which supervises the actions of SMR units and manage plant processes. The information processed at the supervisory level will provide operators the necessary information needed for reactor, unit, and plant operation. In conjunction with the supervisory effort, we have investigated techniques for fault-tolerant networks, over which information is transmitted between local loops and the supervisory controller to maintain a safe level of operational normalcy in the presence of anomalies. The fault-tolerance of the supervisory control architecture, the network that supports it, and the impact of fault-tolerance on multi-unit SMR plant control has been a second focus of this research. To this end, we have investigated the deployment of advanced automation, monitoring, and data collection and communications technologies to enable operation of multiple SMRs. We have created a fault-tolerant multi-unit SMR supervisory controller that collects and transfers information from local loops, supervise their actions, and adaptively optimize the controller parameters. The goal of this research has been to develop the methodologies and procedures for fault-tolerant supervisory control of small modular reactors. To achieve

A supervisory control approach in economic MPC design for refrigeration systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2013-01-01

A model predictive control at the supervisory level is proposed for refrigeration systems using price and temperature predictions. The control objective is to minimize the overall energy cost within the prediction horizon. The method is mainly developed for demand-side management in the future...... to rearrange the problem to facilitate convex programming. A nonlinear continuous time model validated by real data is employed to simulate system operation. The results show a considerable economic saving as well as a trade-off between the saving level and design complexity....

A Process Algebra for Supervisory Coordination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jos Baeten

2011-08-01

Full Text Available A supervisory controller controls and coordinates the behavior of different components of a complex machine by observing their discrete behaviour. Supervisory control theory studies automated synthesis of controller models, known as supervisors, based on formal models of the machine components and a formalization of the requirements. Subsequently, code generation can be used to implement this supervisor in software, on a PLC, or embedded microprocessor. In this article, we take a closer look at the control loop that couples the supervisory controller and the machine. We model both event-based and state-based observations using process algebra and bisimulation-based semantics. The main application area of supervisory control that we consider is coordination, referred to as supervisory coordination, and we give an academic and an industrial example, discussing the process-theoretic concepts employed.

Overview of MFTF supervisory control and diagnostics system software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ng, W.C.

1979-01-01

The Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) is currently the largest mirror fusion research project in the world. Its Control and Diagnostics System is handled by a distributed computer network consisting of nine Interdata minicomputer systems and about 65 microprocessors. One of the design requirements is tolerance of single-point failure. If one of the computer systems becomes inoperative, the experiment can still be carried out, although the system responsiveness to operator command may be degraded. In a normal experiment cycle, the researcher can examine the result of the previous experiment, change any control parameter, fire a shot, collect four million bytes of diagnostics data, perform intershot analysis, and have the result presented - all within five minutes. The software approach adopted for the Supervisory Control and Diagnostics System features chief programmer teams and structured programming. Pascal is the standard programming language in this project

Operations and maintenance manual for the LDUA supervisory control and data acquisition system (LDUA System 4200) and control network (LDUA System 4400)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, G.A.

1998-01-01

This document defines the requirements applicable to the operation, maintenance and storage of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADAS) and Control Network in support of the Light Duty Utility Arm (LDUA) operations

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems and Cyber-Security: Best Practices to Secure Critical Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Morsey, Christopher

2017-01-01

In the critical infrastructure world, many critical infrastructure sectors use a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. The sectors that use SCADA systems are the electric power, nuclear power and water. These systems are used to control, monitor and extract data from the systems that give us all the ability to light our homes…

Shifts in Competences between Member States and EU in the New Supervisory System for Credit Institutions and their Consequences for Judicial Protection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wissink, L.; Duijkersloot, Ton; Widdershoven, Rob

2014-01-01

well as powers concerning enforcement – investigations, measures and penalties – to the EU level. One striking example of such a transfer is the new supervisory system for credit institutions that has recently been put into effect, the so-called Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM).1 Under the new

Supervisory Styles: A Contingency Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Boehe, Dirk Michael

2016-01-01

While the contingent nature of doctoral supervision has been acknowledged, the literature on supervisory styles has yet to deliver a theory-based contingency framework. A contingency framework can assist supervisors and research students in identifying appropriate supervisory styles under varying circumstances. The conceptual study reported here…

Reshaping supervisory practice in home care.

Science.gov (United States)

Knollmueller, R N

1988-06-01

Reshaping supervisory practice in home care is not an if but a when issue. We need the best wisdom in how to reshape the practice so that it builds on the experience of the individual and the agency. It is time to deliberately plan to change from the paper-shuffling tendency among supervisors toward supporting more people-oriented activity and to rediscover the pivotal role that supervisors have in keeping a community healthy, staff stimulated, and the agency solvent. Some summary points to consider in reshaping supervisory practice include: (1) redefine supervision to reflect what is desired, needed, and possible, (2) recognize the contribution from change theory and apply it, (3) recapture the commitment and philosophy of supervision from the past, (4) reward the supervisor commensurate with the scope of practice expected, (5) reverse selection of supervisors from preservers of territory to manager as idea entrepreneur, (6) respond to varying and dynamic models of supervisory practice, (7) recharge the supervisor through timely in-service programs, continuing education, and formal academic study, (8) require educational content and practice from colleges and universities that stimulate creative supervisory skills and improve job satisfaction, (9) respect the work of the supervisor and provide appropriate support to achieve success, (10) reconsider current supervisory models and expand opportunities for professional growth among staff, and (11) reshape the supervisory role from one of controller to facilitator and innovator.

Supervisory fussy control for an electric generating hybrid system; Control supervisorio difuso para un sistema hibrido de generacion electrica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lagunas Mendoza, Javier

2004-11-15

This work presents the development of a fuzzy supervisory controller for a hybrid power system (HPS). After reviewing the actual configurations for Hybrid Systems used around the world, it was defined the configuration and constitutive elements to be implemented in proposed HPS. The HPS includes: photovoltaic arrays, wind turbines as renewable sources, a Gen-set as a back-up system, a battery bank a mean for energy storage, AC loads and finally an inverter to transform DC to AC in order to provide electricity to the loads. Once the HPS configuration was selected, the mathematical models for the different elements of the system were selected. The validation of the models was made comparing the results from the model with collected real data of an experimental HPS installed in Pachuca Hidalgo. Using MatLab it was developed a program to simulate the operation of the a HPS. The main function of the supervisory controller within the HPS is to satisfy the objectives of operation of the system, and it was defined as part of the research work. The operation philosophy of the supervisory controller was defined having selected HPS configuration and the operation objectives of the system. Regarding to the supervisory controller development, first it was carried out a bibliographic review of the supervisory controllers that are used nowadays whose use some techniques of intelligent control. As result form this review the fuzzy logic technique was chosen to be implemented in the supervisory controller proposed. The resulting supervisory controller was a multi- variable system type, and it is implementation was challenging task. Its development was made using the hierarchic decomposition based on meta-knowledge. As result a smaller diffuse systems with a less number of rules were obtained. An important part of the work was the implementation of the supervisory controller in Matlab. The controller tested in the developed simulation program for SHGE. The results of operation of

Supervisory control synthesis for a waterway lock

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijnen, F.F.H.; Goorden, M.A.; van de Mortel - Fronczak, J.M.; Rooda, J.E.

2017-01-01

Formal methods help in coping with the growing functionality and complexity, time-to-market and costs in cyber-physical systems (CPSs). Supervisory control synthesis (SCS) is such a method. It can be used to synthesize a controller for a CPS from the uncontrolled system model (plant) and the

Supervisory Control Technique For An Assembly Workstation As A Dynamic Discrete Event System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Cristina CERNEGA

2001-12-01

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

A test system and supervisory control and data acquisition application with programmable logic controller for thermoelectric generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahiska, Rasit; Mamur, Hayati

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A new TEG test measurement system with the PLC has been carried out. ► A new SCADA program has been written and tested for the test measurement system. ► An operator panel has been used for monitoring to the instant TEG data. ► All of the measurement data of TEG have been aggregated in the system. - Abstract: In this study, a new test measurement system and supervisory control and data acquisition application with programmable logic controller has been carried out to be enable the collection of the data of thermoelectric generator for the usage of thermoelectric modules as thermoelectric generator. During the production of the electric energy from the thermoelectric generator, the temperatures of the surfaces of the thermoelectric generator, current–voltage values obtained from output of the thermoelectric generator, hot and cold flows have been measured by the newly established system instantly. All these data have been monitored continuously from the computer and recorded by a supervisory control and data acquisition program. At the same time, in environments where there was no computer, an operator panel with the ability to communicate with the programmable logic controller has been added for the monitoring of the instant thermoelectric generator data. All of the measurement data of the thermoelectric generator have been aggregated in the new test measurement and supervisory control and data acquisition system. The setup test measurement system has been implemented on the thermoelectric generator system with about 10 W. Thermoelectric generators, Altec-GM-1 brand-coded have been examined by the new proposed test measurement system and the values of maximum power and thermoelectric generator efficiency were calculated by the programmable logic controller. When the obtained results were compared with the datasheets, the relative error for the maximum power was around 4% and the value for efficiency was below 3%.

Laboratory technical services provides business opportunities for supervisory control and data acquisition systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballard, W.

1994-01-01

The author presents some additional information about what he considers are some really great opportunities for the business community to participate in developing the greatest scientific project in the history of mankind. Facility Engineering Services is part of Laboratory Technical Services. As part of this group, it has the responsibility to direct the construction of interim facilities, scientific labs, production process, cooling towers, cooling ponds and the operation and control of SSC Laboratory conventional support systems. These operations and controls will be accomplished through the employment of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA)

Attentional costs and failures in air traffic control notifications.

Science.gov (United States)

Imbert, Jean-Paul; Hodgetts, Helen M; Parise, Robert; Vachon, François; Dehais, Frédéric; Tremblay, Sébastien

2014-01-01

Large display screens are common in supervisory tasks, meaning that alerts are often perceived in peripheral vision. Five air traffic control notification designs were evaluated in their ability to capture attention during an ongoing supervisory task, as well as their impact on the primary task. A range of performance measures, eye-tracking and subjective reports showed that colour, even animated, was less effective than movement, and notifications sometimes went unnoticed. Designs that drew attention to the notified aircraft by a pulsating box, concentric circles or the opacity of the background resulted in faster perception and no missed notifications. However, the latter two designs were intrusive and impaired primary task performance, while the simpler animated box captured attention without an overhead cognitive cost. These results highlight the need for a holistic approach to evaluation, achieving a balance between the benefits for one aspect of performance against the potential costs for another. Practitioner summary: We performed a holistic examination of air traffic control notification designs regarding their ability to capture attention during an ongoing supervisory task. The combination of performance, eye-tracking and subjective measurements demonstrated that the best design achieved a balance between attentional power and the overhead cognitive cost to primary task performance.

Research on Real-Time Supervisory System for Compaction Quality in Face Rockfill Dam Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shengxiang Huang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Compaction quality control in filling construction is of great significance to the stability and durability of the face rockfill dam. The conventional method of quality control mainly relies on manual process control and inspection for a limited number of test holes, which cannot meet the high requirements of modern mechanized construction and schedule anymore, with increasing of scale of face rockfill dams. There is an urgent need to propose a new quality control method of face rockfill dams during the entire compaction process. In this paper, a supervisory system based on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System technology, wireless data communication technology, Internet of things technology, and computer technology is developed to supervise the real-time roller compaction parameters of the working surface including rolling track, rolling times, rolling speed, thickness, and smoothness. The system obtains continuous and high-precision spatial position information of roller compaction machines through GNSS technology and then calculates the roller compaction parameter information. The compaction quality control for the face rockfill dam is achieved through the supervision of roller compaction parameters. The feasibility and robustness of the developed supervisory system are validated by a case study in the face rockfill dam of Shuibuya project in China. The practice shows that the system provides a new and effective method of process control for the construction quality of the roller compaction in dam engineering and realizes real-time, precision, and automatic supervising of roller compaction parameters and ensures better construction quality.

The structure and operation scheme of an automatic and supervisory control system for KEPCO UPFC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, S.J.; Lee, D.W.; Moon, S.I. [Seoul National Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of). School of Electrical Engineering

2007-07-01

The structure and functions of a control system that can be used for automatic and supervisory control of a unified power flow controller (UPFC) was presented. A UPFC is a device used in power electronic based transmission to allow the independent control of active and reactive power flows as well as the simultaneous control of voltage profile. The Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) installed a {+-}80 MVA UPFC at the 154 kV Kangjin substation, operated in the Kangjin-Jangheung transmission line. The operation strategies used in both the normal state and emergency state were presented along with a scheme that includes the minimization of active power loss, coordination of voltage/Var control with an under load tap changer (ULTC), and better system security. Although this UPFC is operated by set-point control, it has some limitations, particularly in emergency events. In order to overcome the limitation of set-point control, this paper proposed the automatic and supervisory control system connected to a local SCADA for data exchange. The primary function of the system is to analyze the state of the power system, determine the control objectives and to calculate the optimal power flow. Details of each of these functions was described in this paper along with a detailed algorithm for each scheme. 5 refs., 6 figs.

Design of Multiregional Supervisory Fuzzy PID Control of pH Reactors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shebel AlSabbah

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This work concerns designing multiregional supervisory fuzzy PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative control for pH reactors. The proposed work focuses, mainly, on two themes. The first one is to propose a multiregional supervisory fuzzy-based cascade control structure. It would enable modifying dynamics and enhance system’s stability. The fuzzy system (master loop has been chosen as a tuner for PID controller (slave loop. It takes into consideration parameters uncertainties and reference tracking. The second theme concerns designing a hybrid neural network-based pH estimator. The proposed estimator would overcome the industrial drawbacks, that is, cost and size, found with conventional methods for pH measurement. The final end-user-interface (EUI front panel and the results that evaluate the performance of the supervisory fuzzy PID-based control system and hybrid NN-based estimator have been presented using the compatibility found between LabView and MatLab. They lead to conclude that the proposed algorithms are appropriate to systems nonlinearities encountered with pH reactors.

Traffic supervisory/control system for Kobe-Awaji- Naruto expressway of Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority; Honshu Shikoku Renrakukyo Kodan nonyu no Kobe Awaji Naruto jidoshado kotsu kansei shisetsu seigyo system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

Toshiba delivered the traffic supervisory/control system for Kobe-Awaji-Naruto expressway of Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority opened in May 1998. This traffic supervisory system rapidly exactly collects and services the information on the expressway of 89km including Akashi Kaikyo bridge and O-Naruto bridge. The facility control system totally efficiently maintains and controls various facilities for lighting and air circulation of tunnels on the expressway. The previous control system transmitted road information on traffic volume and traffic congestion to offices by using specific lines and terminals, while this system with a monitoring function using intranet can easily service such information by existing PCs. (translated by NEDO)

Traffic supervisory/control system for Kobe-Awaji- Naruto expressway of Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority. Honshu Shikoku Renrakukyo Kodan nonyu no Kobe Awaji Naruto jidoshado kotsu kansei shisetsu seigyo system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1999-03-01

Toshiba delivered the traffic supervisory/control system for Kobe-Awaji-Naruto expressway of Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Authority opened in May 1998. This traffic supervisory system rapidly exactly collects and services the information on the expressway of 89km including Akashi Kaikyo bridge and O-Naruto bridge. The facility control system totally efficiently maintains and controls various facilities for lighting and air circulation of tunnels on the expressway. The previous control system transmitted road information on traffic volume and traffic congestion to offices by using specific lines and terminals, while this system with a monitoring function using intranet can easily service such information by existing PCs. (translated by NEDO)

30 CFR 77.1703 - First-Aid training; supervisory employees.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false First-Aid training; supervisory employees. 77... UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Miscellaneous § 77.1703 First-Aid training; supervisory employees. The mine operator shall conduct first-aid training courses for selected supervisory employees at the mine. Within 60 days...

Computer-based supervisory control and data acquisition system for the radioactive waste evaporator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pope, N.G.; Schreiber, S.B.; Yarbro, S.L.; Gomez, B.G.; Nekimken, H.L.; Sanchez, D.E.; Bibeau, R.A.; Macdonald, J.M.

1994-12-01

The evaporator process at TA-55 reduces the amount of transuranic liquid radioactive waste by separating radioactive salts from relatively low-level radioactive nitric acid solution. A computer-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system has been installed on the process that allows the operators to easily interface with process equipment. Individual single-loop controllers in the SCADA system allow more precise process operation with less human intervention. With this system, process data can be archieved in computer files for later analysis. Data are distributed throughout the TA-55 site through a local area network so that real-time process conditions can be monitored at multiple locations. The entire system has been built using commercially available hardware and software components

Predictive Models of Procedural Human Supervisory Control Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

821708, Brest , France. Page 139 of 150 Boussemart, Y. and M. L. Cummings (2010). "Predicting Supervisory Control Behavior with Hidden Markov Models...Strategies for Strike Planning. COGIS 2006 - Cognitive Systems with Interactive Sensors, Paris . Burges, C. (1998). "A Tutorial on Support Vector Machines

Decision Support in Supervisory Control of High-Risk Industrial Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jens; Goodstein, L. P.

1987-01-01

available to the operators their conceptual models and their processing resources so as to allow the operators to function as their extended arm in coping with the plant. Such as interactive decision-making activity would thus benefit from this simultaneous availability of the design basis, up......It is argued that the supervisory control of complex industrial processes having a potential for serious consequences in case of accidents requires careful consideration of the allocation of decision making between the three main agents of control; namely the designer, the operator...... and the automatic control system. In particular, it is advocated that, instead of continuing their efforts to make their preplanning of responses and countermeasures more and more complete and thus restrict the operators' own initiative, designers should take advantage of modern information technology to make...

Framework for modeling supervisory control behavior of operators of nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baron, S.; Feehrer, C.; Muralidharan, R.; Pew, R.; Horwitz, P.

1982-01-01

The importance of modeling the human-machine system has long been recognized, and many attempts have been made to estimate the operator's effect on system performance and reliability. The development of reliability models has been aimed at providing the means for exploring the physical consequences of specific classes of human error. However, the total impact of human performance on system operation and the adequacy of existing design and operating standards cannot be adequatly captured or assessed by simple error probabilities, or even by the combination of such probabilities. The behaviors of relevance are supervisory in nature, with a substantial cognitive component. The broad requirements for a model of human supervisory control are extensive and suggest that a highly sophisticated computer model will be needed. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the approach employed in developing such supervisory control models; of some proposed specializations and extensions to adapt them for the nuclear power plant case; and of the potential utility of such a model

Supervisory Control Strategy Development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gary D Storrick; Bojan Petrovic

2007-01-01

Task 4 of this collaborative effort between ORNL, Brazil, and Westinghouse for the International Nuclear Energy Research Initiative entitled 'Development of Advanced Instrumentation and Control for an Integrated Primary System Reactor' focused on the design of the hierarchical supervisory control for multiple-module units. The state of the IRIS plant design--specifically, the lack of a detailed secondary system design--made developing a detailed hierarchical control difficult at this time. However, other simultaneous and ongoing efforts have contributed to providing the needed information. This report summarizes the results achieved under Task 4 of this Financial Assistance Award. Section 1.2 describes the scope of this effort. Section 2 discusses the IRIS control functions. Next, it briefly reviews the current control concepts, and then reviews the maneuvering requirements for the IRIS plant. It closes by noting the benefits that automated sequences have in reducing operator workload. Section 3 examines reactor loading in the frequency domain to establish some guidelines for module operation, paying particular attention to strategies for using process steam for desalination and/or district heating. The final subsection discusses the implications for reactor control, and argues that using the envisioned percentage (up to 10%) of the NSSS thermal output for these purposes should not significantly affect the NSSS control strategies. Section 4 uses some very general economic assumptions to suggest how one should approach multi-module operation. It concludes that the well-known algorithms used for economic dispatching could be used to help manage a multi-unit IRIS site. Section 5 addresses the human performance factors of multi-module operation. Section 6 summarizes our conclusions

International Symposium on Monitoring Behavior and Supervisory Control

CERN Document Server

Johannsen, Gunnar

1976-01-01

This book includes all papers presented at the International Symposium on Monitoring Behavior and Supervisory Control held at Berchtesgaden, Federal Republic of Germany, March 8-12, 1976. The Symposium was sponsored by the Scientific Affairs Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Brussels, and the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, Bonn. We believe the book constitutes an important and timely status report on monitoring behavior and supervisory control by human operators of complex man-machine systems in which the computer is sharing key functions with the man. These systems include aircraft and other vehicles, nuclear and more conventional power plants, and processes for the manu­ facture of chemicals, petroleum, and discrete parts. By "monitoring" we mean the systematic observation by a human operator of mul tiple sources of information, e. g. , ranging from integrated display consoles to disparate "live situations". The monitor's purpose is to determine whether operations are norm...

Development of a supervisory control and data acquisitioning system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamboh, A.M.; Fakhar, H.A.; Rafiq, G.; Kazmi, S.R.

2004-01-01

This paper describes a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisitioning system called SCADA that we have developed at NUST. This research is aimed at the development of a network where a central Control Server extends bidirectional data exchange capability to hundreds of geographically remote sensors and actuators spread over a distance greater than 3 Km. Several battery-driven handheld terminals called Remote Terminal Units (RTU) have been designed to provide both wired and wireless connectivity between sensors and the network, also adding limited mobility to the sensors. Simple transceivers give the RTUs wireless access to network. The Human-Machine Intel (HMI) for the RTUs and the Server have been provided. A repeater has also been designed to increase the number of RTUs connected, and the maximum allowed distance between units and the server. The wired network gives several times faster connectivity than the wireless network, in addition to the larger area covered, but at the cost of mobility. (author)

Supervisory control of (max,+) automata: extensions towards applications

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lahaye, S.; Komenda, Jan; Boimond, J.-L.

2015-01-01

Roč. 88, č. 12 (2015), s. 2523-2537 ISSN 0020-7179 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : discrete event systems * logical and timed behaviors * (max,+) automata * supervisory control Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.880, year: 2015 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207179.2015.1048295

Supervisory control of (max,+) automata: extensions towards applications

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Lahaye, S.; Komenda, Jan; Boimond, J.-L.

2015-01-01

Roč. 88, č. 12 (2015), s. 2523-2537 ISSN 0020-7179 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : discrete event systems * logical and time d behaviors * (max,+) automata * supervisory control Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.880, year: 2015 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207179.2015.1048295

Self-Disclosure as a Predictor of EAP Supervisory Utilization

Science.gov (United States)

Donohoe, Timothy L.; Johnson, James T.; Taquino, Maurice A.

1999-01-01

The value of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPS) has been cited in a variety of published papers and articles. An important managerial element relative to the assessment and referral of troubled employees has been supervisory training. There has been numerous studies highlighting the various factors and circumstances associated with supervisory behavior and EAP referrals. The inclusion of emotional awareness factors in EAP supervisory utilization has not been thoroughly investigated, although frequently found in the literature as a training and development objective for managers in business and education. The present study sought to determine what role supervisory denial and anxiety avoidance plays in confrontation of troubled employees and if admission of specific, internal emotional events is a characteristic among EAP utilizing supervisors.

Supervisory control software for MFTF neutral beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodruff, J.P.

1981-01-01

We describe the software structures that control the operation of MFTF Sustaining Neutral Beam Power Supplies (SNBPS). These components of the Supervisory Control and Diagnostics System (SCDS) comprise ten distinct tasks that exist in the SCDS system environment. The codes total about 16,000 lines of commented Pascal code and occupy 240 kbytes of memory. The controls have been running since March 1981, and at this writing are being integrated to the Local Control System and to the power supply Pulse Power Module Controller

Idaho National Laboratory Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Intrusion Detection System (SCADA IDS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jared Verba; Michael Milvich

2008-05-01

Current Intrusion Detection System (IDS) technology is not suited to be widely deployed inside a Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) environment. Anomaly- and signature-based IDS technologies have developed methods to cover information technology-based networks activity and protocols effectively. However, these IDS technologies do not include the fine protocol granularity required to ensure network security inside an environment with weak protocols lacking authentication and encryption. By implementing a more specific and more intelligent packet inspection mechanism, tailored traffic flow analysis, and unique packet tampering detection, IDS technology developed specifically for SCADA environments can be deployed with confidence in detecting malicious activity.

Supervisory Control of (max,+) automata: a behavioral approach

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Komenda, Jan; Lahaye, S.; Boimond, J.-L.

2009-01-01

Roč. 19, č. 4 (2009), s. 525-549 ISSN 0924-6703 Grant - others:EU Projekt(XE) EU.ICT.DISC 224498 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : timed discrete-event systems * supervisory control * formal power series * (max,+) * automata Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.921, year: 2009

Auditory decision aiding in supervisory control of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Donmez, Birsen; Cummings, M L; Graham, Hudson D

2009-10-01

This article is an investigation of the effectiveness of sonifications, which are continuous auditory alerts mapped to the state of a monitored task, in supporting unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) supervisory control. UAV supervisory control requires monitoring a UAV across multiple tasks (e.g., course maintenance) via a predominantly visual display, which currently is supported with discrete auditory alerts. Sonification has been shown to enhance monitoring performance in domains such as anesthesiology by allowing an operator to immediately determine an entity's (e.g., patient) current and projected states, and is a promising alternative to discrete alerts in UAV control. However, minimal research compares sonification to discrete alerts, and no research assesses the effectiveness of sonification for monitoring multiple entities (e.g., multiple UAVs). The authors conducted an experiment with 39 military personnel, using a simulated setup. Participants controlled single and multiple UAVs and received sonifications or discrete alerts based on UAV course deviations and late target arrivals. Regardless of the number of UAVs supervised, the course deviation sonification resulted in reactions to course deviations that were 1.9 s faster, a 19% enhancement, compared with discrete alerts. However, course deviation sonifications interfered with the effectiveness of discrete late arrival alerts in general and with operator responses to late arrivals when supervising multiple vehicles. Sonifications can outperform discrete alerts when designed to aid operators to predict future states of monitored tasks. However, sonifications may mask other auditory alerts and interfere with other monitoring tasks that require divided attention. This research has implications for supervisory control display design.

Supervisory control of drilling of composite materials

Science.gov (United States)

Ozaki, Motoyoshi

Composite materials have attractive features, such as high ratios of strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight. However, they are easily damaged when they are machined. A typical damage is delamination, which can occur when fiber reinforced composite laminates are drilled. The objective of this research is to study the drilling processes of carbon fiber reinforced laminates, and to develop and test a supervisory control strategy for their delamination-free drilling. Characterization of thrust force and torque is achieved through constant feedrate drilling experiments. The average values of thrust force and torque during the full engagement of the drill are utilized to obtain the Shaw's equations' parameters. The thrust force profile just before exit is given special attention. The Hocheng-Dharan equations, which give conservative values of delamination at the entrance and at the exit, are modified to express the influence of one lamina thickness explicitly. They are utilized not only for the characterization of thrust force but also for the determination of the thrust force reference for force control. In the design of the controllers of thrust force and torque, both thrust force and torque are assumed to be proportional to FPHR (Feed Per Half Revolution). A discrete-time dynamic model is established for the case when the time interval for a half revolution of the drill is divided by the sampling time, and the model is extended to the case of general spindle speeds. PI controllers are designed for the dynamic models of thrust force and torque. Root-locus techniques are used in the analysis. The phases of the drilling process are introduced and the control strategy at each phase is explained. The supervisory controller chooses not only the best control strategy for each phase, but also the reference value and the controller gain that are suitable at each drill position. Drilling experiments are conducted to show the usefulness of the concepts introduced in this

The role of supervisory controller synthesis in automatic control software development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baeten, J.C.M.; Markovski, J.

2015-01-01

We give an overview of a model-driven systems engineering approach for high-tech systems that relies on supervisory controller synthesis. The proposed framework has a process-theoretic foundation and supports extensions with quantitative features. We briefly discuss several industrial case studies

Leadership Development: A Supervisory Responsibility

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

French, David

2000-01-01

.... This is a recurring theme found throughout leadership literature and speeches. The US Air Force clearly establishes subordinate development as a supervisory responsibility in top-level doctrine...

12 CFR 261.20 - Confidential supervisory information made available to supervised financial institutions and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... available to supervised financial institutions and financial institution supervisory agencies. 261.20... Supervised Institutions, Financial Institution Supervisory Agencies, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Others in... institutions and financial institution supervisory agencies. (a) Disclosure of confidential supervisory...

Review of first line supervisory positions in nuclear power plants - Phase II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mackenzie, C W; Huntley, M [Hickling Corp., Ottawa, ON (Canada)

1995-10-01

This report provides an overview of first line supervisory activities at Ontario Hydro nuclear generating stations (Pickering `A` and Bruce `B`) and the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station in New Brunswick. Activity profiles describing the range of first line supervisory roles and responsibilities for nuclear operators have been developed from survey data and flowcharting methods. These activity profiles have then been compared with formal job responsibilities as identified in job descriptions, supervisory training provided and assessment criteria used to evaluate supervisors. Finally, this report relates the findings of supervisory practices in the group under study with the findings in the current literature relating to supervisory functioning. (author). 32 tabs., 2 figs.

Review of first line supervisory positions in nuclear power plants - Phase II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mackenzie, C.W.; Huntley, M.

1995-10-01

This report provides an overview of first line supervisory activities at Ontario Hydro nuclear generating stations (Pickering 'A' and Bruce 'B') and the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station in New Brunswick. Activity profiles describing the range of first line supervisory roles and responsibilities for nuclear operators have been developed from survey data and flowcharting methods. These activity profiles have then been compared with formal job responsibilities as identified in job descriptions, supervisory training provided and assessment criteria used to evaluate supervisors. Finally, this report relates the findings of supervisory practices in the group under study with the findings in the current literature relating to supervisory functioning. (author). 32 tabs., 2 figs

Commissioning of Temelin NPP as seen by scientific supervisory group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Svoboda, C.

2003-01-01

Scientific Supervisory Group worked during the Temelin NPP commissioning process as an independent supervisor. The main tasks and main results of its activity are described in this contribution. The characteristic common features of commissioning process and most important events from the Scientific Supervisory Group point of view are presented. In April 1999 the Czech Power Utility with the objective to achieve maximum level of nuclear safety and quality within the NPP Temelin commissioning procedures has established a special body / Scientific Supervisory Group and requested Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc to perform the required function. The Scientific Supervisory Group proceeds in accordance with its Statute and provides an independent specialised professional and expert work focused on nuclear safety assurance, assesment of the selected documentation related to plant preparedness for the individual commissioning stages, and, of course. on assessment of the commissioning tests results. While performing its function the Scientific Supervisory Group is guided by the Atomic Act and the relevant Directives of State Office for Nuclear Safety; its activities are in compliance with the applicable IAEA recommendations (Authors)

Government regulation and associated innovations in building energy-efficiency supervisory systems for large-scale public buildings in a market economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dai Xuezhi; Wu Yong; Di Yanqiang; Li Qiaoyan

2009-01-01

The supervision of energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings is the main embodiment for government implementation of Public Administration in the fields of resource saving and environmental protection. Aimed at improving the current situation of lack of government administration in building energy efficiency, this paper proposes the concept of 'change and redesign of governmental supervision in building energy efficiency', repositioning the role of government supervision. Based on this theory and other related theories in regulation economic and modern management, this paper analyzes and researches the action and function of all level governments in execution of the supervisory system of building energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings. This paper also defines the importance of government supervision in energy-efficiency system. Finally, this paper analyzes and researches the interaction mechanism between government and owners of different type buildings, government and energy-efficiency service institution with gambling as main features. This paper also presents some measurements to achieve a common benefit community in implementation of building energy-efficiency supervisory system.

Government regulation and associated innovations in building energy-efficiency supervisory systems for large-scale public buildings in a market economy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai Xuezhi [China Academy of Building Research, Beijing 100013 (China)], E-mail: daixz9999@126.com; Wu Yong [Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People' s Republic of China, Beijing 100835 (China); Di Yanqiang [China Academy of Building Research, Beijing 100013 (China); Li Qiaoyan [Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore (Singapore)

2009-06-15

The supervision of energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings is the main embodiment for government implementation of Public Administration in the fields of resource saving and environmental protection. Aimed at improving the current situation of lack of government administration in building energy efficiency, this paper proposes the concept of 'change and redesign of governmental supervision in building energy efficiency', repositioning the role of government supervision. Based on this theory and other related theories in regulation economic and modern management, this paper analyzes and researches the action and function of all level governments in execution of the supervisory system of building energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings. This paper also defines the importance of government supervision in energy-efficiency system. Finally, this paper analyzes and researches the interaction mechanism between government and owners of different type buildings, government and energy-efficiency service institution with gambling as main features. This paper also presents some measurements to achieve a common benefit community in implementation of building energy-efficiency supervisory system.

Government regulation and associated innovations in building energy-efficiency supervisory systems for large-scale public buildings in a market economy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai, Xuezhi; Di, Yanqiang [China Academy of Building Research, Beijing 100013 (China); Wu, Yong [Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People' s Republic of China, Beijing 100835 (China); Li, Qiaoyan [Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore (Singapore)

2009-06-15

The supervision of energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings is the main embodiment for government implementation of Public Administration in the fields of resource saving and environmental protection. Aimed at improving the current situation of lack of government administration in building energy efficiency, this paper proposes the concept of 'change and redesign of governmental supervision in building energy efficiency', repositioning the role of government supervision. Based on this theory and other related theories in regulation economic and modern management, this paper analyzes and researches the action and function of all level governments in execution of the supervisory system of building energy efficiency in government office buildings and large-scale public buildings. This paper also defines the importance of government supervision in energy-efficiency system. Finally, this paper analyzes and researches the interaction mechanism between government and owners of different type buildings, government and energy-efficiency service institution with gambling as main features. This paper also presents some measurements to achieve a common benefit community in implementation of building energy-efficiency supervisory system. (author)

The Supervisory Process of EFL Teachers: A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Cheryl Wei-Yu; Cheng, Yuh-show

2013-01-01

Supervision is an essential part of language teachers' professional experiences. The literature on language teacher supervision from the past few decades consists largely of descriptions of supervisory approaches (Bailey, 2009) and analysis of the supervisory discourse (Hooton, 2008; Wajnryb, 1994; 1995; 1998; Wallace & Woolger, 1991). This…

Towards energy efficient operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems via advanced supervisory control design

Science.gov (United States)

Oswiecinska, A.; Hibbs, J.; Zajic, I.; Burnham, K. J.

2015-11-01

This paper presents conceptual control solution for reliable and energy efficient operation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems used in large volume building applications, e.g. warehouse facilities or exhibition centres. Advanced two-level scalable control solution, designed to extend capabilities of the existing low-level control strategies via remote internet connection, is presented. The high-level, supervisory controller is based on Model Predictive Control (MPC) architecture, which is the state-of-the-art for indoor climate control systems. The innovative approach benefits from using passive heating and cooling control strategies for reducing the HVAC system operational costs, while ensuring that required environmental conditions are met.

Supervisory System and Multivariable Control Applying Weighted Fuzzy-PID Logic in an Alcoholic Fermentation Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Márcio Mendonça

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In this work, it is analyzed a multivariate system control of an alcoholic fermentation process with no minimum phase. The control is made with PID classic controllers associated with a supervisory system based on Fuzzy Systems. The Fuzzy system, a priori, send set-points to PID controllers, but also adds protection functions, such as if the biomass valued is at zero or very close. The Fuzzy controller changes the campaign to prevent or mitigate the paralyzation of the process. Three control architectures based on Fuzzy Control Systems are presented and compared in performance with classic control in different campaigns. The third architecture, in particular, adds an adaptive function. A brief summary of Fuzzy theory and correlated works will be presented. And, finally simulations results, conclusions and future works end the article.

Perceptions of Administrative and Supervisory Support in Public Child Welfare

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tonya M. Westbrook

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Using the Child Welfare Organizational Culture Inventory (CWOCI in a public child welfare agency, perceptions of administrative and supervisory support held by employees with social work degrees (BSW and MSW were compared to perceptions of administrative and supervisory support held by employees without social work degrees. Child welfare employees with social work degrees reported lower administrative and supervisory support than employees without social work degrees. Implications for social work educators, public child welfare administrators and supervisors, and future research are presented.

Supervisory system to monitor the neutron flux of the IPR-R1 TRIGA research reactor at CDTN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinto, Antonio Juscelino; Mesquita, Amir Zacarias; Tello, Cledola Cassia Oliveira

2009-01-01

The IPR-R1 TRIGA Mark I nuclear research reactor at the Nuclear Technology Development Center - CDTN (Belo Horizonte) is a pool type reactor. It was designed for research, training and radioisotope production. The International Atomic Energy Agency- IAEA - recommends the use of friendly interfaces for monitoring and controlling the operational parameters of nuclear reactors. This paper reports the activities for implementing a supervisory system, using LabVIEW software, with the purpose to provide the IPR-R1 TRIGA research reactor with a modern, safe and reliable system to monitor the time evolution of the power of its core. The use of the LabVIEW will introduce modern techniques, based on electronic processor and visual interface in video monitor, substituting the mechanical strip chart recorders (ink-pen drive and paper) that monitor the current neutrons flux, which is proportional to the thermal power supplied by reactor core. The main objective of the system will be to follow the evolution of the neutronic flux originated in the Linear and Logarithmic channels. A great advantage of the supervisory software nowadays, in relation to computer programs currently used in the facility, is the existence of new resources such as the data transmission and graphical interfaces by net, grid lines display in the graphs, and resources for real time reactor core video recordings. The considered system could also in the future be optimized, not only for data acquisition, but also for the total control of IPR-R1 TRIGA reactor(author)

Supervisory selection and development yields payback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rubino, E.A.

1991-01-01

The selection and development of first line supervisors is a critical factor in a strategic effort to bring about organizational change, to improve performance and productivity and to enhance professionalism in the work force. Candidates for first line supervisory positions at Philadelphia Electric Company are no longer promoted purely on the basis of seniority. A Supervisory Selection Assessment Center permits candidates to demonstrate leadership potential. Successful candidates then attend an eight week Supervisory Development Academy, away from the work place. On successful completion of the Academy, the supervisor assembles his or her work team and, with training and leadership, shapes a performance based work team ready to plan, execute and assess its own work. Since this radically different program was initiated in September, 1989, results have been highly acclaimed by management. Contractor support has been sharply reduced, budgets have been met and reduced more work has been accomplished and fewer overtime hours have been needed. Workers attend training with no loss of team productivity. Each SDA graduate and his team sets goals to improve quality, increase productivity, increase efficiency, maintain ALARA, improve safety and effect cultural change while improving job satisfaction and morale

Two-objective on-line optimization of supervisory control strategy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nassif, N.; Kajl, S.; Sabourin, R. [Ecole de Technologie Superieure, Montreal (Canada)

2004-09-01

The set points of supervisory control strategy are optimized with respect to energy use and thermal comfort for existing HVAC systems. The set point values of zone temperatures, supply duct static pressure, and supply air temperature are the problem variables, while energy use and thermal comfort are the objective functions. The HVAC system model includes all the individual component models developed and validated against the monitored data of an existing VAV system. It serves to calculate energy use during the optimization process, whereas the actual energy use is determined by using monitoring data and the appropriate validated component models. A comparison, done for one summer week, of actual and optimal energy use shows that the on-line implementation of a genetic algorithm optimization program to determine the optimal set points of supervisory control strategy could save energy by 19.5%, while satisfying the minimum zone airflow rates and the thermal comfort. The results also indicate that the application of the two-objective optimization problem can help control daily energy use or daily building thermal comfort, thus saving more energy than the application of the one-objective optimization problem. (Author)

Latent Factors in Attention Emerge from 9 Years of Age among Elementary School Children

OpenAIRE

Tao, Ting; Wang, Ligang; Fan, Chunlei; Gao, Wenbin; Shi, Jiannong

2017-01-01

We explored the development of attention among elementary school children. Three hundred and sixty-five primary school children aged 7–12 years completed seven attention tests (alertness, focused attention, divided attention, attentional switching, sustained attention, spatial attention, and supervisory attention). A factor analysis indicated that there was no stable construct of attention among 7- to 8-year-old children. However, from 9 years on, children’s attention could be separated into ...

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Laboratory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Iacob

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents practical laboratories for teaching purpose in Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA systems. A SCADA system is described in terms of architecture, process interfaces, functionality, and application development facilities. These concepts are implemented on an integrated automation system, particularly for digital control of electric drives with a distributed peripheral, i.e., Totally Integrated Automation with Democase from Siemens. Using this system, a wide range of applications can be designed, implemented and tested. A practical labs set is presented to introduce gradually the main SCADA elements, and finally to develop an application to control an induction motor in interlocked manual/automatic mode, with touch-screen Human Machine Interface (HMI. The system employs industrial busses like PROFIBus and industrial Ethernet. The SCADA system also shows trends, alarms, motor frequency and automatic sequence of motor speed profile.

Report on the experience with the Supervisory Control and Diagnostics System (SCDS) of MFTF-B

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wyman, R.H.

1983-01-01

The Supervisory Control and Diagnostics System (SCDS) of MFTF is a multiprocessor computer system using graphics oriented displays with touch sensitive panels as the primary operator interface. Late in the calendar year 1981 the system was used to control an integrated test of the vacuum vessel, vacuum system, cryogenics system and the superconducting magnet of MFTF. Since the completion of those tests and starting in early calendar 1983 the system has been used for control of the neutral beam test facility at LLNL. This paper presents a short overview of SCDS for the purpose of orientation and then proceeds to describe the difficulties encountered in these preliminary encounters with reality. The band-aids used to hold things together as disaster threatened as well as the long-term solutions to the problems will be discussed. Finally, we will present some comments on system costs and management philosophy

32 CFR 776.53 - Responsibilities of the Judge Advocate General and supervisory attorneys.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... of the Judge Advocate General and supervisory attorneys. (a) Responsibilities of the Judge Advocate General and supervisory attorneys. (1) The JAG and supervisory attorneys shall make reasonable efforts to... 32 National Defense 5 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Responsibilities of the Judge Advocate General...

30 CFR 75.1713-3 - First-Aid training; supervisory employees.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false First-Aid training; supervisory employees. 75... First-Aid training; supervisory employees. The mine operator shall conduct first-aid training courses... employee and date on which the employee satisfactorily completed the first-aid training course. The...

Radiation safety supervisory system in Latvia and its role in prevention of unauthorised practices with radiation sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eglajs, A.; Salmins, A.

2001-01-01

This report provides an overview of the practical and legal aspects of the use of radiation sources. The existing regulatory infrastructure is briefly analysed and proposed systems are described. The proposed interactions between the regulatory body and the advisory board are presented and some details about joint activities of different institutions concerning radiation safety are given. An implementation example of the supervisory system in combating illicit trafficking is analysed and the essential components in the prevention of illicit trafficking are assessed. Some findings of investigations are quoted regarding improvements in protection and prevention on the national and the international level. (author)

Supervisory control in a distributed, hierarchical architecture for a multimodular LMR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otaduy, P.J.; Brittain, C.R.; Rovere, L.A.

1989-01-01

This paper describes the directions and present status of the research in supervisory control for multimodular nuclear plants being conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as part of US Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Controls Program. First, the hierarchical supervisory control structure envisioned for a Power Reactor Inherently Safe Module (PRISM) multimodular LMR is discussed. Next, the architecture of the supervisory module closest to the process actuators and its implementation for demonstration in a network of CPU's are presented. 12 refs., 3 figs

National Ignition Facility subsystem design requirements supervisory control software SSDR 1.5.2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Woodruff, J.; VanArsdall, P.; Bliss, E.

1996-01-01

This System Design Requirement document establishes the performance, design, development, and test requirements for the Supervisory Control Software, WBS 1.5.2, which is part of the NIF Integrated Computer Control System (ICCS). This document responds directly to the requirements detailed in ICCS (WBS 1-5)

A Double-Deck Elevator Group Supervisory Control System with Destination Floor Guidance System Using Genetic Network Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Lu; Zhou, Jin; Mabu, Shingo; Hirasawa, Kotaro; Hu, Jinglu; Markon, Sandor

The Elevator Group Supervisory Control Systems (EGSCS) are the control systems that systematically manage three or more elevators in order to efficiently transport the passengers in buildings. Double-deck elevators, where two elevators are connected with each other, serve passengers at two consecutive floors simultaneously. Double-deck Elevator systems (DDES) become more complex in their behavior than conventional single-deck elevator systems (SDES). Recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has been used in such complex systems. Genetic Network Programming (GNP), a graph-based evolutionary method, has been applied to EGSCS and its advantages are shown in some papers. GNP can obtain the strategy of a new hall call assignment to the optimal elevator when it performs crossover and mutation operations to judgment nodes and processing nodes. Meanwhile, Destination Floor Guidance System (DFGS) is installed in DDES, so that passengers can also input their destinations at elevator halls. In this paper, we have applied GNP to DDES and compared DFGS with normal systems. The waiting time and traveling time of DFGS are all improved because of getting more information from DFGS. The simulations showed the effectiveness of the double-deck elevators with DFGS in different building traffics.

RTE - Report by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board 2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of RTE (Reseau de Transport d'Electricite) draws up and publishes an annual report on corporate governance and internal control procedures, in application of Paragraph 7 of Article L. 225-68 of French company law (Code de Commerce). This is a requirement on companies whose shares are traded on a regulated market, as is the case of RTE. Paragraph 7 of Article L. 225-68 of French company law (Code de Commerce) stipulates that the report must present: the composition of the Supervisory Board and the application of the principle of equal representation of men and women, the conditions of preparing and organising the work of the Supervisory Board, internal control and risk management procedures implemented by the company, the corporate governance code to which the company adheres. Additionally, this report must set out: the principles for determining the remuneration of senior executives, specific provisions relating to the involvement of shareholders at the General Meeting of Shareholders. Within RTE, this report has been prepared by the Legal Affairs Department, which directed a work team. They reported on the functioning of the Supervisory Board and the implementation of internal control and risk management procedures, both for RTE and for its subsidiaries. The present report was approved by the Executive Board and was submitted to the Statutory Auditors. It was then presented to the Economic and Audit Supervisory Committee on 07 February 2017 and the Supervisory Board on 09 February 2017. The report was published at the same time as the activity report, the management report and consolidated accounts, annual accounts and the sustainability report. This document takes account of the various recommendations published by the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF)

Supervisory control and diagnostics system for the mirror fusion test facility: overview and status 1980

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGoldrick, P.R.

1981-01-01

The Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) is a complex facility requiring a highly-computerized Supervisory Control and Diagnostics System (SCDS) to monitor and provide control over ten subsystems; three of which require true process control. SCDS will provide physicists with a method of studying machine and plasma behavior by acquiring and processing up to four megabytes of plasma diagnostic information every five minutes. A high degree of availability and throughput is provided by a distributed computer system (nine 32-bit minicomputers on shared memory). Data, distributed across SCDS, is managed by a high-bandwidth Distributed Database Management System. The MFTF operators' control room consoles use color television monitors with touch sensitive screens; this is a totally new approach. The method of handling deviations to normal machine operation and how the operator should be notified and assisted in the resolution of problems has been studied and a system designed

Impaired Job Performance and Critical Incidents: Factors Influencing Supervisory EAP Referrals.

Science.gov (United States)

Harley, David A.

Relatively little empirical research has been done on the supervisory referral of employees to employee assistance programs (EAPs). Inclusion of constructive confrontation (supervisory referral) into program standards and its continued promotion as a "central strategy" of program theory and operation calls for critical investigation of…

A Queueing Model for Supervisory Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-01

Autonomous Vehicles Joseph DiVita, PhD Robert L. Morris Maria Olinda Rodas SSC Pacific Approved...298 (Rev. 8/98) Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 09–2013 Final A Queueing Model for Supervisory Control of Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles Joseph...Mission Area: Command and Control, Queueing Model; Supervisory Control; Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles M. O. Rodas U U U U 38 (619)

Areva - Press release from the Supervisory Board

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marie, Patricia; Briand, Pauline; Floquet-Daubigeon, Fleur; Michaut, Maxime; Scorbiac, Marie de; Repaire, Philippine du

2012-01-01

During its meeting held on December 12, 2011, devoted in particular to the examination of the 2011 closing estimates, the AREVA Executive Board indicated that it expected to book a provision of 1.46 billion euros (2.025 billion US dollars) in the company's accounts for fiscal year 2011 for impairment of assets for the reporting entity UraMin, a mining company acquired by AREVA in 2007, which, given the provision booked in 2010 (426 million euros), brings the value of these assets on the AREVA balance sheet down to 410 million euros. Given the size of these provisions, the Supervisory Board decided to make three of its members, meeting as an ad hoc committee, in charge of analyzing the terms of acquisition of this company, as well as the key decisions made in this reporting entity up to 2011 and, based on the outcome of these analyses, to recommend to it any appropriate measures in AREVA's interest. This committee reported on its work during the Supervisory Board meeting held on February 14, 2012. In light of this report, the Supervisory Board found that the fairness and reliability of the financial statements of previous years were not in question. Nevertheless, considering the malfunctions raised, the Board considers it appropriate to thoroughly review AREVA's governance in order to ensure that decisions concerning large acquisitions or investments be reviewed and validated in the future under conditions ensuring better legal and financial security and enabling a more transparent dialogue between management and the Supervisory Board. It thus asked the Executive Board to recommend, at the next General Meeting of Shareholders, that the by-laws of the company be modified to make the Supervisory Board's prior approval of investments, stake acquisitions and acquisitions mandatory above a threshold of 20 million euros. It also decided to set up a business ethics committee within the Supervisory Board responsible for ensuring that rules of conduct are properly applied

Migration of supervisory machine control architectures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Graaf, B.; Weber, S.; Deursen, van A.; Nord, R.; Medvidovic, N.; Krikhaar, R.; Stafford, J.; Bosch, J.

2005-01-01

In this position paper, we discuss a first step towards an approach for the migration of supervisory machine control (SMC) architectures. This approach is based on the identification of SMC concerns and the definition of corresponding transformation rules.

Supervisory Control and Court Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Lienhard

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Court management is an essential precondition for guaranteeing the adjudication of cases. At the same time, court administration is the key focus of supervisory control. Management instruments and structures, caseload management and other elements of quality assurance including the certification of judicial authorities must therefore be accorded considerable constitutional importance.

Plant Modeling for Human Supervisory Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lind, Morten

1999-01-01

This paper provides an overview of multilevel flow modelling (MFM) and its application for design of displays for the supervisory control of industrial plant. The problem of designing the inforrrzatian content of sacpervisory displays is discussed and plant representations like MFM using levels...

Supervisory behavior, reciprocity and subordinate absenteeism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dierendonck, van D.; Blanc, Le P.M.; Breukelen, van W.

2002-01-01

The present study among 242 professionals working in a lung clinic and nursing home was designed to test a model that links supervisory behavior (i.e. leader member exchange (LMX) behavior and conflict management behavior) and reciprocity in the supervisor/subordinate relationship to objectively

Development of a First-of-a-Kind Deterministic Decision-Making Tool for Supervisory Control System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cetiner, Sacit M [ORNL; Kisner, Roger A [ORNL; Muhlheim, Michael David [ORNL; Fugate, David L [ORNL

2015-07-01

Decision-making is the process of identifying and choosing alternatives where each alternative offers a different approach or path to move from a given state or condition to a desired state or condition. The generation of consistent decisions requires that a structured, coherent process be defined, immediately leading to a decision-making framework. The overall objective of the generalized framework is for it to be adopted into an autonomous decision-making framework and tailored to specific requirements for various applications. In this context, automation is the use of computing resources to make decisions and implement a structured decision-making process with limited or no human intervention. The overriding goal of automation is to replace or supplement human decision makers with reconfigurable decision- making modules that can perform a given set of tasks reliably. Risk-informed decision making requires a probabilistic assessment of the likelihood of success given the status of the plant/systems and component health, and a deterministic assessment between plant operating parameters and reactor protection parameters to prevent unnecessary trips and challenges to plant safety systems. The implementation of the probabilistic portion of the decision-making engine of the proposed supervisory control system was detailed in previous milestone reports. Once the control options are identified and ranked based on the likelihood of success, the supervisory control system transmits the options to the deterministic portion of the platform. The deterministic multi-attribute decision-making framework uses variable sensor data (e.g., outlet temperature) and calculates where it is within the challenge state, its trajectory, and margin within the controllable domain using utility functions to evaluate current and projected plant state space for different control decisions. Metrics to be evaluated include stability, cost, time to complete (action), power level, etc. The

Proposal for the award of a contract for the supply of a supervisory control and data acquisition system for the four LHC experiments

CERN Document Server

2000-01-01

This document concerns the award of a contract for the supply of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for the control of the four LHC experiments. Following a market survey carried out among 63 firms in thirteen Member States and one firm in Israel, a call for tenders (IT-2814/IT) was sent on 29 May 2000 to two firms and two consortia, each consisting of two firms, in four Member States. By the closing date, CERN had received four tenders from three firms and one consortium in three Member States. The Finance Committee is invited to agree to the negotiation of a contract with ETM (AT), the lowest bidder complying with the specification, for the supply of a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for the control of the four LHC experiments, including consultancy services and training, for a total amount of 407 500 euros (634 000 Swiss francs), not subject to revision, and 10 years? maintenance for a total amount of 308 500 euros (480 000 Swiss francs), subject to annual rev...

Extended attention span training system

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Alan T.; Bogart, Edward H.

1991-01-01

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a behavioral disorder characterized by the inability to sustain attention long enough to perform activities such as schoolwork or organized play. Treatments for this disorder include medication and brainwave biofeedback training. Brainwave biofeedback training systems feed back information to the trainee showing him how well he is producing the brainwave pattern that indicates attention. The Extended Attention Span Training (EAST) system takes the concept a step further by making a video game more difficult as the player's brainwaves indicate that attention is waning. The trainee can succeed at the game only by maintaining an adequate level of attention. The EAST system is a modification of a biocybernetic system that is currently being used to assess the extent to which automated flight management systems maintain pilot engagement. This biocybernetic system is a product of a program aimed at developing methods to evaluate automated flight deck designs for compatibility with human capabilities. The EAST technology can make a contribution in the fields of medical neuropsychology and neurology, where the emphasis is on cautious, conservative treatment of youngsters with attention disorders.

Decision support in supervisory control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasmussen, J.; Goodstein, L.P.

1985-08-01

It is argued that the supervisory control of complex industrial processes having a potential for serious consequences in case of accidents requires careful consideration of the allocation of decision making between the three main agents of control; namely the designer, the operator and the automatic control system. In particular, it is advocated that instead of continuing their efforts to make their preplanning of responses and countermeasures more and more complete and restricting the operator's initiative, designers should take advantage of modern information technology to make available to the operators their conceptual models and their processing resources so as to allow the operators to function as their extended arm in coping with the plant. Such an interactive decision making activity would thus benefit from this simultaneous availability of the design basis, up-to-date knowledge of plant status and accumualted operational experience. (author)

Extended supervisory control of Peirce-Smith converter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hadjiski, Mincho; Boshnakov, Kosta

2014-01-01

In this paper some problems of the tight integration of the Process Control (PC) and Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) are considered in the creation of a supervised control system for Peirce-Smith Converter. The motivation of this approach is carried out on the base of numerous experimental data analyses, which show a significant improving potential. Because of a very high level of stochastic components in the direct measurements, due to the melt crystallisation a data driven degradation model is derived. A multistage procedure is proposed for effective Maintenance Decision Making (MDM) using a threshold based policy, Rule-Based Reasoning (RBR) and Case-Based Reasoning (CBR). The extended functionality of the proposed system is discussed. Key words: mathematical modelling, Peirce-Smith converter (PSC), rule-based reasoning (RBR), supervisory control, threshold based maintenance, maintenance decision making

Evaluating the Impact of Communication Network Performance on Supervisory Supermarket Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Jacob Theilgaard; Minko, Tomasz; Madsen, Tatiana Kozlova

2017-01-01

This paper addresses the evaluation of the impact of non-ideal communication networks on system performance of hierarchical control systems. It develops a stepwise evaluation approach that is applied to the example scenario of a supervisory controller for supermarket temperature control, addressing...... of communication network performance on the supermarket refrigeration control and resulting energy costs using simulation models. The results show that the controller is resilient to downstream information delays, however upstream delays or up- and downstream information loss can cause significant performance...

Review of the first line supervisory positions in nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mullin, D; Mackenzie, C W [Hickling Corp. (Canada)

1995-10-01

The authors review the nature of the tasks performed by first line maintenance supervisors in three nuclear power plants. They compare these tasks to core supervisory training curriculum, supervisory job descriptions, and both the process related to performance appraisals, and the criteria applied in carrying out these performance evaluations. Recommendations have been made concerning methods of increasing the relevancy of training and improving the performance appraisal process. ( author). 5 figs.

Review of the first line supervisory positions in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullin, D.; Mackenzie, C.W.

1995-10-01

The authors review the nature of the tasks performed by first line maintenance supervisors in three nuclear power plants. They compare these tasks to core supervisory training curriculum, supervisory job descriptions, and both the process related to performance appraisals, and the criteria applied in carrying out these performance evaluations. Recommendations have been made concerning methods of increasing the relevancy of training and improving the performance appraisal process. ( author). 5 figs

What happens at work stays at work? Workplace supervisory social interactions and blood pressure outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Jennifer H K; Kelloway, E Kevin

2016-04-01

We investigated the relationship between workplace supervisory social interactions and blood pressure outcomes using hourly diary entries and ambulatory blood pressure data from an experience sampling study of 55 long-term care employees. After accounting for relevant cardiovascular controls, significant effects of supervisory interactions on cardiovascular reactivity and recovery were found. Multilevel analyses revealed that negatively perceived supervisory interactions predicted higher systolic blood pressure at work (B = -1.59, p pressure recovery after work (B = -14.52, p < .05, N = 33). Specifically, negatively perceived supervisory interactions at work predicted poorer cardiovascular recovery after work. Suggestions for improving practices in organizations and in experience sampling research are discussed. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

ATTENTIONAL NETWORKS AND SELECTIVE VISUAL SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ALEJANDRO CASTILLO MORENO

2006-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper we checked the principal researches and theories to explain the attention system functioning.We are going to start reviewing along time about the concept of attention, from filter theories andresources distributor theories, to the current theories in which attention is conceived as a control system.From this last point of view, we will emphasize on the attentional networks theory of Posner, thatproposes different systems to explain diverse aspects of attention, but they are related to each other. Atlast in this paper, we will mention experimental results that have been important to characterize theselective attentional mechanisms of the human visual system, using the attentional spotlight model forthis aim.

Non-linear model predictive supervisory controller for building, air handling unit with recuperator and refrigeration system with heat waste recovery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Minko, Tomasz; Wisniewski, Rafal; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon

2016-01-01

. The retrieved heat excess can be stored in the water tank. For this purpose the charging and the discharging water loops has been designed. We present the non-linear model of the above described system and a non-linear model predictive supervisory controller that according to the received price signal......, occupancy information and ambient temperature minimizes the operation cost of the whole system and distributes set points to local controllers of supermarkets subsystems. We find that when reliable information about the high price period is available, it is profitable to use the refrigeration system...... to generate heat during the low price period, store it and use it to substitute the conventional heater during the high price period....

Supervisory control of mobile sensor networks: math formulation, simulation, and implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Giordano, Vincenzo; Ballal, Prasanna; Lewis, Frank; Turchiano, Biagio; Zhang, Jing Bing

2006-08-01

This paper uses a novel discrete-event controller (DEC) for the coordination of cooperating heterogeneous wireless sensor networks (WSNs) containing both unattended ground sensors (UGSs) and mobile sensor robots. The DEC sequences the most suitable tasks for each agent and assigns sensor resources according to the current perception of the environment. A matrix formulation makes this DEC particularly useful for WSN, where missions change and sensor agents may be added or may fail. WSN have peculiarities that complicate their supervisory control. Therefore, this paper introduces several new tools for DEC design and operation, including methods for generating the required supervisory matrices based on mission planning, methods for modifying the matrices in the event of failed nodes, or nodes entering the network, and a novel dynamic priority assignment weighting approach for selecting the most appropriate and useful sensors for a given mission task. The resulting DEC represents a complete dynamical description of the WSN system, which allows a fast programming of deployable WSN, a computer simulation analysis, and an efficient implementation. The DEC is actually implemented on an experimental wireless-sensor-network prototyping system. Both simulation and experimental results are presented to show the effectiveness and versatility of the developed control architecture.

Specification of technical means for implementation of supervisory algorithms of the status of a nuclear reactor and of the main coolant pump of a NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jirsa, P.

2000-11-01

Inclusion into the programming of inputs of the supervisory algorithm (data collection from the monitoring system, transmission of diagnostic output fro other system and transmission of technological data), of the supervisory process proper based on the data obtained (data analysis) and of the output (presentation of the results to the operator, communication with the master and archiving systems, etc.) requires knowledge of the format of the data transmitted, their availability, communication network protocols, operating system, etc. Hence, the environment for which the algorithm will be developed should be specified, roughly at least. The following topics are addressed: Description of technical means of Czech nuclear power plants (Dukovany, Temelin, Mochovce), and Proposal for technical means to implement the monitoring algorithm (Requirements related to the monitoring systems, Identification of the reference system, Parameters of the selected system). Since no domestic manufacturer of HW for monitoring and diagnostic systems exists, a novel system of the Brueel and Kjaer company for on-line diagnosis and monitoring, COMPASS, was selected as a model model system for the implementation of the supervisory algorithms. (P.A.)

Supervisory Turnover in Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, Danica K.; Broome, Kirk M.; Edwards, Jennifer R.; Flynn, Patrick M.

2009-01-01

Staff turnover is a significant issue within substance abuse treatment, with implications for service delivery and organizational health. This study examined factors associated with turnover among supervisors in outpatient substance abuse treatment. Turnover was conceptualized as being an individual response to organizational-level influences, and predictors represent aggregate program measures. Participants included 532 staff (including 467 counselors and 65 clinical/program directors) from 90 programs in four regions of the USA. Using logistic regression, analyses of structural factors indicated that programs affiliated with a parent organization and those providing more counseling hours to clients had higher turnover rates. When measures of job attitudes were included, only parent affiliation and collective appraisal of satisfaction were related to turnover. Subsequent analyses identified a trend toward increased supervisory turnover when satisfaction was low following the departure of a previous supervisor. These findings suggest that organizational-level factors can be influential in supervisory turnover. PMID:19949883

Application of optimal control principles to describe the supervisory control behavior of AAA crew members

Science.gov (United States)

Hale, C.; Valentino, G. J.

1982-01-01

Supervisory decision making and control behavior within a C(3) oriented, ground based weapon system is being studied. The program involves empirical investigation of the sequence of control strategies used during engagement of aircraft targets. An engagement is conceptually divided into several stages which include initial information processing activity, tracking, and ongoing adaptive control decisions. Following a brief description of model parameters, two experiments which served as initial investigation into the accuracy of assumptions regarding the importance of situation assessment in procedure selection are outlined. Preliminary analysis of the results upheld the validity of the assumptions regarding strategic information processing and cue-criterion relationship learning. These results indicate that this model structure should be useful in studies of supervisory decision behavior.

Low-Cost Control System Built Upon Consumer-Based Electronics For Supervisory Control Of A Gas-Operated Heat Pump

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wetherington Jr, G Randall [ORNL; Vineyard, Edward Allan [ORNL; Mahderekal, Isaac [ORNL; Abu-Heiba, Ahmad [ORNL

2017-06-01

A preliminary evaluation of the performance of a consumer-based control system was conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Southwest Gas as part of a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) authorized by the Department of Energy (DOE) (Mahderekal et al. (2013). The goal of the research was to evaluate the low-cost approach as a solution for implementing a supervisory control system for a residential gas-operated heat pump. The design incorporated two consumer-based micro-controllers; the Arduino Mega-2650 and the BeagleBone (white). Ten five-ton heat pump systems were designed, fabricated, and operationally tested in the Las Vega NV region. A robust data set was produced that allowed detailed assessment of the reliability and the operational perfromance of the newly developed control system. Experiences gained from the test provided important points of improvement for subsequent evolution of the heat pump technology.

Supervisory Monitoring of Workplace at CIAE in 2011

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2011-01-01

1 Introduction Based on The Routine Monitoring Programme for Workplace at CIAE in 2011 which approved by Division of Safe and Environmental Protection, a management sector of China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE), supervisory monitoring of

Enabling Critical Reflection on Research Supervisory Practice

Science.gov (United States)

Pearson, Margot; Kayrooz, Carole

2004-01-01

This paper describes the development of an instrument--The Reflective Supervisor Questionnaire (RSQ). The RSQ maps the domain of research supervisory practice as a facilitative process involving educational tasks and activities. It is designed to assist research supervisors explore, by means of self-reflection and reflection on feedback from…

A psychometric approach to supervisory competency assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Vorster

2003-10-01

Full Text Available The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using a psychometric approach for assessing supervisory competencies relevant to the mining and refining environment. The competency questionnaire was developed using supervisory roles and registered supervisory unit standards from the United Kingdom (UK, as no registered unit standards exist in South Africa. Twenty-four supervisors from three departments (Production, Engineering and Laboratory were evaluated by 125 raters; besides by themselves, also by their managers, peers, customers and their sub-ordinates. Based on difference scores derived from the Importance and Performance scales, a single factor was extracted with an internal reliability of 0,965. No statistical significant differences were obtained (ANOVA’s, t-test and F-statistics between groups based on biographical variables or between rater groups. The findings and their implications are further discussed. Opsomming Die primêre doel van die studie was om die moontlikheid vir die gebruik van ’n psigometriese benadering tot toesighouerbevoegdheidsbeoordeling, te evalueer. Die bevoegdheidsvraelys is ontwikkel deur gebruik te maak van toesighouersrolle en geregistreerde toesighouerseenheidstandaarde van die Verenigde Koningkryk, as gevolg van ‘n gebrek aan bestaande eenheidstandaarde in Suid-Afrika. Vier-en-twintig toesighouers van drie departemente (Produksie, Ingenieurswese en Laboratorium is deur 125 beoordelaars geëvalueer; buiten deur hulself, ook deur hul bestuurders, kollegas, kliënte en hul ondergeskiktes. ’n Enkele faktor, met ’n betroubaarheid van 0,965, gebaseer op die verskiltellings van die Prestasie- en Belangrikheidskaal, is onttrek. Geen beduidende verskille (ANOVA’s, t-toetse en F-statistiek kon tussen groepe gebaseer op biografiese veranderlikes en die onderskeie beoordelaarsgroepe gevind word nie. Hierdie bevindinge en die implikasies daarvan word verder bespreek.

Reforms to the European Union Financial Supervisory and Regulatory Architecture and Their Implications for Asia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Z. Darvas (Zsolt); D. Schoenmaker (Dirk); N. Véron (Nicolas)

2017-01-01

textabstractEuropean Union (EU) countries offer a unique experience of financial regulatory and supervisory integration, complementing various other European integration efforts following the Second World War. Financial regulatory and supervisory integration was a very slow process before 2008,

Comparative response time and fault logging with a PLC and supervisory software and a standalone unit developed for recording

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baldaconi, Ricardo H.; Costa, Fabio E. da

2017-01-01

The Cobalt-60 irradiator of IPEN / CNEN, a category IV facility, has a security system for inter locking doors or exposure of radioactive sources made simultaneously by a programmable logic controller (PLC) model S7-200 from Siemens and a relay logic. From a set of information, both systems work together opening doors or exposing the sources. All incoming and outgoing information are sent serially via EIA232 communication to a personal computer with Windows® platform for a supervisory program which provides the monitoring of the entire process by a synoptic table on the computer screen and is also intended to keep records of all events on the computer's hard drive. A deficiency was found for the process of sending events via serial communication (EIA232) from PLC to the supervisory program. When failure occurred in a very short time, the PLC always took the right decision, but the registration process that had to go through the Windows® timeshare lost the information. In the previous work developed a standalone electronics unit connected to the inputs and outputs of the security system, fully optocoupled to avoid any interference to the security system that records each event on a memory card. In this work, for checking the unit developed record time ability, transients incoming signals for simulating failures, were injected at security system inputs and the response time of security system, supervisory program and the autonomous unity were measured and compared. (author)

Comparative response time and fault logging with a PLC and supervisory software and a standalone unit developed for recording

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baldaconi, Ricardo H., E-mail: ricardohovacker@hotmail.com [Escola Senai Roberto Simonsen, Educação e Tecnologia, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Costa, Fabio E. da, E-mail: fecosta@ipen.br [Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), São Paulo, SP (Brazil)

2017-07-01

The Cobalt-60 irradiator of IPEN / CNEN, a category IV facility, has a security system for inter locking doors or exposure of radioactive sources made simultaneously by a programmable logic controller (PLC) model S7-200 from Siemens and a relay logic. From a set of information, both systems work together opening doors or exposing the sources. All incoming and outgoing information are sent serially via EIA232 communication to a personal computer with Windows® platform for a supervisory program which provides the monitoring of the entire process by a synoptic table on the computer screen and is also intended to keep records of all events on the computer's hard drive. A deficiency was found for the process of sending events via serial communication (EIA232) from PLC to the supervisory program. When failure occurred in a very short time, the PLC always took the right decision, but the registration process that had to go through the Windows® timeshare lost the information. In the previous work developed a standalone electronics unit connected to the inputs and outputs of the security system, fully optocoupled to avoid any interference to the security system that records each event on a memory card. In this work, for checking the unit developed record time ability, transients incoming signals for simulating failures, were injected at security system inputs and the response time of security system, supervisory program and the autonomous unity were measured and compared. (author)

Assessing attentional systems in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Casagrande, Maria; Martella, Diana; Ruggiero, Maria Cleonice; Maccari, Lisa; Paloscia, Claudio; Rosa, Caterina; Pasini, Augusto

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency and interactions of attentional systems in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) by considering the effects of reinforcement and auditory warning on each component of attention. Thirty-six drug-naïve children (18 children with ADHD/18 typically developing children) performed two revised versions of the Attentional Network Test, which assess the efficiency of alerting, orienting, and executive systems. In feedback trials, children received feedback about their accuracy, whereas in the no-feedback trials, feedback was not given. In both conditions, children with ADHD performed more slowly than did typically developing children. They also showed impairments in the ability to disengage attention and in executive functioning, which improved when alertness was increased by administering the auditory warning. The performance of the attentional networks appeared to be modulated by the absence or the presence of reinforcement. We suggest that the observed executive system deficit in children with ADHD could depend on their low level of arousal rather than being an independent disorder. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Developing operator capacity estimates for supervisory control of autonomous vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Cummings, M L; Guerlain, Stephanie

2007-02-01

This study examined operators' capacity to successfully reallocate highly autonomous in-flight missiles to time-sensitive targets while performing secondary tasks of varying complexity. Regardless of the level of autonomy for unmanned systems, humans will be necessarily involved in the mission planning, higher level operation, and contingency interventions, otherwise known as human supervisory control. As a result, more research is needed that addresses the impact of dynamic decision support systems that support rapid planning and replanning in time-pressured scenarios, particularly on operator workload. A dual screen simulation that allows a single operator the ability to monitor and control 8, 12, or 16 missiles through high level replanning was tested on 42 U.S. Navy personnel. The most significant finding was that when attempting to control 16 missiles, participants' performance on three separate objective performance metrics and their situation awareness were significantly degraded. These results mirror studies of air traffic control that demonstrate a similar decline in performance for controllers managing 17 aircraft as compared with those managing only 10 to 11 aircraft. Moreover, the results suggest that a 70% utilization (percentage busy time) score is a valid threshold for predicting significant performance decay and could be a generalizable metric that can aid in manning predictions. This research is relevant to human supervisory control of networked military and commercial unmanned vehicles in the air, on the ground, and on and under the water.

Support of the Ukrainian supervisory authority in establishing a modern nuclear power plant monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beyer, M.; Carl, H.; Schumann, P.; Seidel, A.; Weiss, F.P.; Zschau, J.; Nowak, K.

2000-01-01

The type of monitoring of nuclear power plants in Ukraine practiced in the early nineties provided the supervisory authority with only inadequate access to information about the current safety status of plants. For the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, unit 5, a technical system to improve operational monitoring has been designed, installed and commissioned for trial operation at the end of 1995 as a pilot project. The system complements existing operational checking and monitoring facilities by including modern means of information technology. It enables concentration on a continuous monitoring of the state of unit 5 in normal operation and in cases of anormalies or incidents so that when recognisable deviations from the regular plant operation occur, the authority can immediately inquire and if necessary impose conditions on the operator. In 1997, the Information and Crisis Centre of the Ukraninian supervisory authority in Kiev was equipped with the most essential technical means necessary for quasi-simultaneous transfer of data and voice and for monitoring purposes and connected to the Centre to the Zaporozhye system. A similar monitoring system for both VVER-440 units of the Rovno nuclear power plant by analogy with the pilot project was specified and put into operation and connected to the ICC in 1998. (orig.) [de

7 CFR 1717.611 - RUS approval of expenditures for legal, accounting, engineering, and supervisory services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

..., supervisory (other than for the management and operation of the borrower's electric system, see § 1717.608(d... 7 Agriculture 11 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false RUS approval of expenditures for legal, accounting... COMMON TO INSURED AND GUARANTEED ELECTRIC LOANS Operational Controls § 1717.611 RUS approval of...

strategies for improving supervisory skills for effective primary ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Elizabeth

certain basic concepts such as inspection and supervision, the responsibility of supervisors, relevant areas in ... Strategies For Improving Supervisory Skills For Effective Primary Education In Nigeria. Enaigbe A. P. 236 ... book, attendance book etc. 6) Managerial Skills: These are skills on time management, good use.

The Relationship between Supervisee Stress, Coping Resources, the Working Alliance, and the Supervisory Working Alliance

Science.gov (United States)

Gnilka, Philip B.; Chang, Catherine Y.; Dew, Brian J.

2012-01-01

The authors examined the relationship of perceived stress, specific types of coping resources, the working alliance, and the supervisory working alliance among 232 counselor supervisees. The working alliance and the supervisory working alliance were negatively related to perceived stress and positively related to multiple coping resources. Two…

Development of a supervisory skills course for hospital pharmacy workplaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Woloschuk, Donna M M; Raymond, Colette B

2010-07-01

Many Canadian hospital pharmacies are experiencing difficulties recruiting supervisory personnel. It was expected that, through a "learning-by-doing" course, pharmacy staff would learn to apply basic skills in the day-to-day supervision of pharmacy operations and human resources and to apply the principles of supervisory documentation. A supervisory skills course targeted to pharmacy staff members was developed and implemented by the pharmacy department of a large urban health region. The course was initially offered to practising pharmacy technicians. The course design emphasized a constructivist framework incorporating authentic learning and reflective practice during seminars, with experiential and self-directed learning in the workplace. Preceptors assisted learners to achieve the course goals. Learners and preceptors provided feedback about hours spent (as the course progressed) and about their satisfaction with the course itself (at the end of the course). Learners and preceptors completed a post-program evaluation 2 months after completing the course to help in the assessment of the transfer of learning (lasting impact) associated with the course. Overall performance in the course was assessed on a pass/fail basis. Eighteen pharmacy technicians were admitted to the program, but one withdrew because of a job change. All learners successfully completed the course. Two months after the course, learners and preceptors described enhanced organization, time management, leadership, communication, and conflict-resolution skills on the part of learners, as well as their increased confidence, maturity, and ability to supervise staff. Learners' evaluations revealed a broadened perspective of pharmacy. The preceptors valued the enhancement of learners' skills and their increased enthusiasm. At the time of writing, 6 of the participants had secured supervisory positions. Creating formal instruction that engages pharmacy staff to pursue management positions is challenging

Building Supervisory Confidence--A Key to Transfer of Training

Science.gov (United States)

Byham, William C.; Robinson, James

1977-01-01

A training concept is described which suggests that efforts toward maintaining and/or building the confidence of the participants in supervisory training programs can increase their likelihood of using the skills on the job. (TA)

Independence and executive remuneration for supervisory board members and non-executive directors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hana Horak

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the author analyses the issues of independence and rewarding members of supervisory boards and non-executive directors in administrative boards. The question of independence was developed as one of the fundamental issues of corporative administration. Members of these organs of society should have the appropriate qualifications, specific knowledge and skills in order to reasonably and impartially weigh up social business and reach decisions in the best interests of society, its members and other interest holders. So that they can act in accordance with this, the presumption is that they are independent. Recently, after financial crises, it is precisely the independence of supervisory members, that is, non-executive directors, which is considered to be the foundation of the fight against the opportunism of administration and main shareholders. The authors analyse the Recommendations on Independence and Executive Remuneration for members of supervisory and administrative boards of the European Union, together with their implementation in Croatian law and practice.

Comparative study of researcher community support and supervisory support among Finnish and Danish PhD-students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cornér, Solveig; Pyhältö, Kirsi; Peltonen, Jouni

Prior research on doctoral supervision and researcher communities has identified social support as a key determinant of the doctoral journey (Jairam & Kahl, 2012; Zhao, Golde & McCormick, 2007). Supervisory support, for instance, in terms of constructive feedback and encouragement (Pyhältö......, 313-329. • Pyhältö, K., Vekkaila (o.s. Tuomainen), J., & Keskinen, J. (2015). Fit matters in the supervisory relationship: Doctoral students’ and supervisors’ perceptions about supervisory activities. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 52(1), 4-16. • Zhau, C-M, Golde, C.M., McCormick...

A Tool For Enhancing Supervisory Effectiveness In Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper examined the relevance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a tool for enhancing supervisory effectiveness in Nigerian educational institutions. The paper highlighted various tools of ICT that could be used in educational supervision such as Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras, e-mails ...

Influence of perceived co-worker involvement and supervisory ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated the influence of perceived co-worker involvement and Supervisory Support on Job Satisfaction among Staff of Champion Brewery, Uyo. One hundred and fifty (150) participants were drawn as participant using simple randomization. The participants were ninety five males and fifty five females whose ...

Commerce Supervisory Course: Discussion Guide. Theories of Supervision.

Science.gov (United States)

McCaw, Edward A.

The contributions of Frederick W. Taylor, Henri Fayol and Elton Mayo to the development of current concepts of supervisory theory are outlined. Ten newer concepts of management, with graphics, provide the supervisor with an opportunity to formulate his own personal theory. Suggested bibliography for supervisors is given. (Author/NF)

Democratic Dialogue as a Process to Inform Public Policy: Reconceptualizing a Supervisory Officer’s Qualification Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deirdre M. Smith

2015-06-01

Full Text Available An exploration of the collaborative reconceptualization of a provincial Supervisory Officer’s Qualification Program (SOQP through the use of dialogic approaches is the focus of this inquiry. The stories, perspectives, and lived experiences of supervisory officers, principals, teachers, parents, students, and members of the public in Ontario were included as essential voices and information sources within policy development conversations. These narratives of experience revealed the forms of knowledge, skills, dispositions, and ethical commitments necessary for effective supervisory officers today and in the future. They also illustrated the transformative nature of narrative dialogue to enlighten, deepen understanding, and alter perspec- tives. The policy development processes used in this publicly shared educational initiative serve as a model of democratic dialogue. The inclusive and dialogic methods employed to collectively reconceptualize a supervisory officer formation program illustrate an innovative framework for developing policies governing the public good.

Autonomous Supervisory Engine for Multi-Spacecraft Formation Flying, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The overall goal of this project is to develop an onboard, autonomous Multi-spacecraft Supervisory Engine (MSE) for formation-flying guidance, navigation and control...

TEFL Graduate Supervisees' Views of Their Supervisors' Supervisory Styles and Satisfaction with Thesis Supervision

Science.gov (United States)

Gedamu, Abate Demissie

2018-01-01

Thesis supervisor supervisory styles play central roles in enhancing timely and quality completion of thesis works. To this effect, this study aimed at exploring TEFL graduate supervisees' perception of their thesis supervisors' supervisory style(s), the supervisees' level of satisfaction with thesis supervision, and the association between…

STABLE ADAPTIVE CONTROL FOR A CLASS OF NONLINEAR SYSTEMS WITHOUT USE OF A SUPERVISORY TERM IN THE CONTROL LAW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MOHAMED BAHITA

2012-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a direct adaptive control scheme for a class of nonlinear systems is proposed. The architecture employs a Gaussian radial basis function (RBF network to construct an adaptive controller. The parameters of the adaptive controller are adapted and changed according to a law derived using Lyapunov stability theory. The centres of the RBF network are adapted on line using the k-means algorithm. Asymptotic Lyapunov stability is established without the use of a supervisory (compensatory term in the control law and with the tracking errors converging to a neighbourhood of the origin. Finally, a simulation is provided to explore the feasibility of the proposed neuronal controller design method.

Instructional Supervisory Practices of Headteachers and Teacher Motivation in Public Basic Schools in Anomabo Education Circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Esia-Donkoh, Kweku; Baffoe, Stella

2018-01-01

The study examined the supervisory practices of headteachers and how these supervisory practices relate with teacher motivation in public basic schools in the Anomabo Education Circuit of the Mfantseman Municipality in the Central Region of Ghana. Quantitative approach of the cross-sectional survey design was adopted. Using purposive and…

Board of Directors or Supervisory Board

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Werlauff, Erik

2009-01-01

The article analyses the legal consequences of the choice now available to Danish public limited companies, which can now opt for a two-tier management structure, in which the management board undertakes both the day-to-day and the overall management, while a supervisory board exercises control...... over the management board, including its appointment and dismissal. The article considers which companies a two-tier structure may be relevant for, and reviews the consequences for the composition, election and functioning of the company organs....

Team performance in networked supervisory control of unmanned air vehicles: effects of automation, working memory, and communication content.

Science.gov (United States)

McKendrick, Ryan; Shaw, Tyler; de Visser, Ewart; Saqer, Haneen; Kidwell, Brian; Parasuraman, Raja

2014-05-01

Assess team performance within a net-worked supervisory control setting while manipulating automated decision aids and monitoring team communication and working memory ability. Networked systems such as multi-unmanned air vehicle (UAV) supervision have complex properties that make prediction of human-system performance difficult. Automated decision aid can provide valuable information to operators, individual abilities can limit or facilitate team performance, and team communication patterns can alter how effectively individuals work together. We hypothesized that reliable automation, higher working memory capacity, and increased communication rates of task-relevant information would offset performance decrements attributed to high task load. Two-person teams performed a simulated air defense task with two levels of task load and three levels of automated aid reliability. Teams communicated and received decision aid messages via chat window text messages. Task Load x Automation effects were significant across all performance measures. Reliable automation limited the decline in team performance with increasing task load. Average team spatial working memory was a stronger predictor than other measures of team working memory. Frequency of team rapport and enemy location communications positively related to team performance, and word count was negatively related to team performance. Reliable decision aiding mitigated team performance decline during increased task load during multi-UAV supervisory control. Team spatial working memory, communication of spatial information, and team rapport predicted team success. An automated decision aid can improve team performance under high task load. Assessment of spatial working memory and the communication of task-relevant information can help in operator and team selection in supervisory control systems.

Control of Discrete-Event Systems Automata and Petri Net Perspectives

CERN Document Server

Silva, Manuel; Schuppen, Jan

2013-01-01

Control of Discrete-event Systems provides a survey of the most important topics in the discrete-event systems theory with particular focus on finite-state automata, Petri nets and max-plus algebra. Coverage ranges from introductory material on the basic notions and definitions of discrete-event systems to more recent results. Special attention is given to results on supervisory control, state estimation and fault diagnosis of both centralized and distributed/decentralized systems developed in the framework of the Distributed Supervisory Control of Large Plants (DISC) project. Later parts of the text are devoted to the study of congested systems though fluidization, an over approximation allowing a much more efficient study of observation and control problems of timed Petri nets. Finally, the max-plus algebraic approach to the analysis and control of choice-free systems is also considered. Control of Discrete-event Systems provides an introduction to discrete-event systems for readers that are not familiar wi...

Supervisory Presentation for Research, Information, Integration and Testing (SPRINT)

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-29

in Microsoft Visual Studio and several third party developer libraries (See Figure 4). All distributed laboratory sites have similar hardware...Testing (SPRINT). 15. SUBJECT TERMS Supervisory Control, Multi-Modal Interfaces, Scalable Interfaces, Advanced Visualization , Augmented Symbology 16...23 Figure 9. Fusion Visual Framework Components

Promoting versatility in mentor teachers’ use of supervisory skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crasborn, F.J.A.J.; Hennissen, P.P.M.; Korthagen, F.A.J.; Bergen, T.C.M.

2008-01-01

Mentor teachers need a versatile supervisory skills repertoire. Besides taking the prevalent role of daily advisor and instructor, mentor teachers should also be able to stimulate reflection in student teachers. Video recordings of 60 mentoring dialogues were analysed, both before and after a mentor

Promoting versatililty in mentor teachers' use of supervisory skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dr. Paul Hennissen; Dr. F.J.A.J. Crasborn; Niels Brouwer; Theo Bergen; Fred Korthagen

2008-01-01

Mentor teachers need a versatile supervisory skills repertoire. Besides taking the prevalent role of daily advisor and instructor, mentor teachers should also be able to stimulate reflection in student teachers. Video recordings were analyzed of 60 mentoring dialogues, both before and after a mentor

Complexity of verifying nonblockingness in modular supervisory control

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Masopust, Tomáš

2018-01-01

Roč. 63, č. 2 (2018), s. 602-607 ISSN 0018-9286 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : nonblockingness * modular supervisory control * complexity Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Computer sciences, information science, bioinformathics (hardware development to be 2.2, social aspect to be 5.8) Impact factor: 4.270, year: 2016 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7979596/

The Single Supervisory Mechanism: the Building Pillar of the European Banking Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luigi Chiarella

2016-07-01

Full Text Available One of the lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis is that when a bank in Europe goes into trouble the ensuing effects can reach far beyond the immediate threat to its depositors and shareholders. In particular, the crisis has revealed the extent to which irresponsible behavior in the banking sector could undermine the foundations of the financial system and threaten the real economy, turning a banking crisis into a sovereign debt crisis as occurred in the eurozone in 2011. In response to this lesson, Member States first tried to address the systemic fragility of their banking systems through national policy tools, but countries that share a common currency and are more interdependent required more integrated responses. Therefore, at the euro area summit in June 2012, the European Council agreed to break the vicious circle between banks and sovereign debt and decided to create a banking union that would allow a centralized supervision for banks in the euro area through a newly established Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM and a centralized resolution scheme. The SSM became operational in November 2014 and represents the building pillar of the banking union. The purpose of this paper is then to provide, after a brief description of the background (Par. 1, an analysis of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, illustrating its functioning (Par. 2, then focusing on the position and the powers of the ECB within it (Par. 3 and finally pointing out some remarks on the potential weaknesses of the new regime (Par. 4.

Supervisory practices in the Open and Distance Learning (ODL ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Formal training that specifically focuses on the ODL environment is recommended. Bridging the generational gap of supervisors regarding the use of information technology in supervisory practices needs to be addressed. A virtual appreciative coaching and mentoring programme can be a solution for providing support to ...

Investigating mentor teachers’ use and acquisition of supervisory skills:

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dr. Niels Brouwer; Dr. F.J.A.J. Crasborn; Dr. Paul Hennissen; Prof. dr. Fred Korthagen

2015-01-01

The quality of mentoring in teacher education is an essential component of a powerful learning environment for teachers. There is no single approach to mentoring that will work in the same way for every teacher in each context. Nevertheless, most mentor teachers hardly vary their supervisory

The remote supervisory and controlling experiment system of traditional Chinese medicine production based on Fieldbus

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Jinliang; Lu, Pei

2006-11-01

Since the quality of traditional Chinese medicine products are affected by raw material, machining and many other factors, it is difficult for traditional Chinese medicine production process especially the extracting process to ensure the steady and homogeneous quality. At the same time, there exist some quality control blind spots due to lacking on-line quality detection means. But if infrared spectrum analysis technology was used in traditional Chinese medicine production process on the basis of off-line analysis to real-time detect the quality of semi-manufactured goods and to be assisted by advanced automatic control technique, the steady and homogeneous quality can be obtained. It can be seen that the on-line detection of extracting process plays an important role in the development of Chinese patent medicines industry. In this paper, the design and implement of a traditional Chinese medicine extracting process monitoring experiment system which is based on PROFIBUS-DP field bus, OPC, and Internet technology is introduced. The system integrates intelligence node which gathering data, superior sub-system which achieving figure configuration and remote supervisory, during the process of traditional Chinese medicine production, monitors the temperature parameter, pressure parameter, quality parameter etc. And it can be controlled by the remote nodes in the VPN (Visual Private Network). Experiment and application do have proved that the system can reach the anticipation effect fully, and with the merits of operational stability, real-time, reliable, convenient and simple manipulation and so on.

30 CFR 75.1713-5 - First-aid training program; retraining of supervisory employees; availability to all miners.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false First-aid training program; retraining of...-UNDERGROUND COAL MINES Miscellaneous § 75.1713-5 First-aid training program; retraining of supervisory... shall conduct refresher first-aid training courses each calendar year for all selected supervisory...

Appreciation of the research supervisory relationship by postgraduate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

van Wyk, N C; Coetzee, I M; Havenga, Y; Heyns, T

2016-03-01

The quality of the relationship between postgraduate students and their supervisors often determines the progress of the students. Successful supervision according to students is associated with the expertise of the supervisors and their willingness to share their knowledge with their students. On the other hand, supervisors expect their students to be able to work independently to a large extent. Contradictory expectations of supervisors and postgraduate students can cause delays in the progress of students. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the aspects of the supervisory relationship that postgraduate students in nursing science at a selected university in South Africa appreciate. A qualitative research design with an appreciative inquiry approach was used and 18 students under the guidance of an independent facilitator provided the data during group interviews. Specific personal and professional qualities of the supervisors contribute to a valued supervisory relationship. Regarding personal qualities, the supervisors should show their understanding of the unique circumstances of the students in challenging times. Supervisors should also be expert researchers. The valued relationship refers to an open and trusting relationship between the students and the supervisors. The students' appreciation of the research supervisory relationship contributes to the understanding of the expectations of postgraduate students regarding the support that they need to become scholars in an academic discipline. There is a need for continuing professional development of supervisors to sensitize them about the expectations of the students. © 2015 International Council of Nurses.

Self-Leadership and Creativity Differences in Line and Supervisory Defense Acquisition Employees

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

DiLiello, Trudy C; Houghton, Jeffery D

2007-01-01

.... More specifically, the study examined differences in self-leadership, creativity, and perceived organizational support for creativity between line and supervisory defense acquisition employees...

Health, supervisory support, and workplace culture in relation to work-family conflict and synergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Beutell, Nicholas J

2010-08-01

This research examined health, supervisory support, and workplace culture as predictors of work interfering with family, family interfering with work, and work-family synergy. The analysis of data from 2,796 respondents from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce yielded significant relations among measures of mental health, self-rated health, supervisory support, and work-family culture with a focus on career concerns. Support was found for a measure of work-family synergy. Implications and directions for research are discussed.

Safety Supervisory Strategy for an Upper-Limb Rehabilitation Robot Based on Impedance Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lizheng Pan

2013-02-01

Full Text Available User security is an important consideration for robots that interact with humans, especially for upper-limb rehabilitation robots, during the use of which stroke patients are often more susceptible to injury. In this paper, a novel safety supervisory control method incorporating fuzzy logic is proposed so as to guarantee the impaired limb's safety should an emergency situation occur and the robustness of the upper-limb rehabilitation robot control system. Firstly, a safety supervisory fuzzy controller (SSFC was designed based on the impaired-limb's real-time physical state by extracting and recognizing the impaired-limb's tracking movement features. Then, the proposed SSFC was used to automatically regulate the desired force either to account for reasonable disturbance resulting from pose or position changes or to respond in adequate time to an emergency based on an evaluation of the impaired-limb's physical condition. Finally, a position-based impedance controller was implemented to achieve compliance between the robotic end-effector and the impaired limb during the robot-assisted rehabilitation training. The experimental results show the effectiveness and potential of the proposed method for achieving safety and robustness for the rehabilitation robot.

Regime-based supervisory control to reduce power fluctuations from offshore wind power plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barahona Garzón, Braulio; Cutululis, Nicolaos Antonio; Trombe, Pierre-Julien

2013-01-01

Wind power fluctuations, especially offshore, can pose challenges in the secure and stable operation of the power system. In modern large offshore wind farms, there are supervisory controls designed to reduce the power fluctuations. Their operation is limited due to the fact that they imply loss...... that consider different wind power regimes to derive control setpoints by using a Markov-Switching AutoRegressive model. We evaluate the performance versus measured data in terms of power ramp characteristics and energy efficiency....

Organization structure as a moderator of the relationship between procedural justice, interactional justice, perceived organizational support, and supervisory trust.

Science.gov (United States)

Ambrose, Maureen L; Schminke, Marshall

2003-04-01

Organizational justice researchers recognize the important role organization context plays in justice perceptions, yet few studies systematically examine contextual variables. This article examines how 1 aspect of context--organizational structure--affects the relationship between justice perceptions and 2 types of social exchange relationships, organizational and supervisory. The authors suggest that under different structural conditions, procedural and interactional justice will play differentially important roles in determining the quality of organizational social exchange (as evidenced by perceived organizational support [POS]) and supervisory social exchange (as evidenced by supervisory trust). In particular, the authors hypothesized that the relationship between procedural justice and POS would be stronger in mechanistic organizations and that the relationship between interactional justice and supervisory trust would be stronger in organic organizations. The authors' results support these hypotheses.

Hospital ownership, decisions on supervisory board characteristics, and financial performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuntz, Ludwig; Pulm, Jannis; Wittland, Michael

2016-01-01

Dynamic and complex transformations in the hospital market increase the relevance of good corporate governance. However, hospital performance and the characteristics of supervisory boards differ depending on ownership. The question therefore arises whether hospital owners can influence performance by addressing supervisory board characteristics. The objective of this study is to explain differences in the financial performance of hospitals with regard to ownership by studying the size and composition of supervisory boards. The AMADEUS database was used to collect information on hospital financial performance in 2009 and 2010. Business and quality reports, hospital websites, and data from health insurer were used to obtain information on hospital and board characteristics. The resulting sample consisted of 175 German hospital corporations. We utilized ANOVA and regression analysis to test a mediation hypothesis that investigated whether decisions regarding board size and composition were associated with financial performance and could explain performance differences. Financial performance and board size and composition depend on ownership. An increase in board size and greater politician participation were negatively associated with all five tested measures of financial performance. Furthermore, an increase in physician participation was positively associated with one dimension of financial performance, whereas one negative relationship was identified for nurse and economist participation. For clerics, no associations were found. Decisions concerning board size and composition are important as they relate to hospital financial performance. We contribute to existing research by showing that, in addition to board size and physician participation, the participation of other professionals can also influence financial performance.

Supervisory Responsiveness and Employee Self-Perceived Status and Voice Behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, Onne; Gao, Liping

2015-01-01

We investigated the role of employees' status appraisals within their work group in relation to their challenging-promotive voice behavior. We argued that fair and respectful treatment of their voice input by the authority figure of the group (i.e., supervisory responsiveness) enhances employees'

Supervisory Responsiveness and Employee Self-Perceived Status and Voice Behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen, Onne; Gao, Liping

We investigated the role of employees' status appraisals within their work group in relation to their challenging-promotive voice behavior. We argued that fair and respectful treatment of their voice input by the authority figure of the group (i.e., supervisory responsiveness) enhances employees'

An Exploration of Supervisory and Therapeutic Relationships and Client Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Hope; Hagedorn, W. Bryce; Robinson, E. H. Mike

2016-01-01

The authors explored the connection between the facilitative conditions present within the supervisory relationship, the therapeutic relationship, and client outcomes. A correlational research design was used with a sample of 55 counselors-in-training and 88 clients. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between the therapeutic…

Supervisory behaviour as a predictor of return to work in employees absent from work due to mental health problems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nieuwenhuijsen, K.; Verbeek, J.H.A.M.; Boer, A.G.E.M. de; Blonk, R.W.B.; Dijk, F.J.H. van

2004-01-01

Aims: To study supervisory behaviour as a predictive factor for return to work of employees absent due to mental health problems; and to explore the association between conditional factors and supervisory behaviour. Methods: Eighty five supervisors of employees were interviewed by telephone.

Elevator Group Supervisory Control System Using Genetic Network Programming with Macro Nodes and Reinforcement Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Jin; Yu, Lu; Mabu, Shingo; Hirasawa, Kotaro; Hu, Jinglu; Markon, Sandor

Elevator Group Supervisory Control System (EGSCS) is a very large scale stochastic dynamic optimization problem. Due to its vast state space, significant uncertainty and numerous resource constraints such as finite car capacities and registered hall/car calls, it is hard to manage EGSCS using conventional control methods. Recently, many solutions for EGSCS using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have been reported. Genetic Network Programming (GNP), which is proposed as a new evolutionary computation method several years ago, is also proved to be efficient when applied to EGSCS problem. In this paper, we propose an extended algorithm for EGSCS by introducing Reinforcement Learning (RL) into GNP framework, and an improvement of the EGSCS' performances is expected since the efficiency of GNP with RL has been clarified in some other studies like tile-world problem. Simulation tests using traffic flows in a typical office building have been made, and the results show an actual improvement of the EGSCS' performances comparing to the algorithms using original GNP and conventional control methods. Furthermore, as a further study, an importance weight optimization algorithm is employed based on GNP with RL and its efficiency is also verified with the better performances.

Single banking supervision and the single supervisory mechanism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gheorghe, C. A.

2013-06-01

Full Text Available A resolution seems to have been found for the banking crisis. The first steps have been made towards the construction of the Economic and Monetary Union, steps involving the single supervision of banks, in order to avoid the discount of a new financial crisis on the expense of the EU state members. The Single Supervisory Mechanism – SSM is to become effective as of March 1, 2014, at the earliest.

Organizational and Supervisory Apology Effectiveness: Apology Giving in Work Settings

Science.gov (United States)

Bisel, Ryan S.; Messersmith, Amber S.

2012-01-01

We synthesize the interdisciplinary literature into a heuristic for crafting effective organizational and supervisory apologies (the OOPS four-component apology). In the first experiment, we demonstrate how an offense committed by an organization is perceived to be more egregious than an offense committed by a friend or supervisor. Furthermore,…

A fuzzy quality function deployment approach to improve a component of a supervisory control and data acquisition system

OpenAIRE

Cristea Ciprian; Saşa Ciprian; Cristea Maria

2017-01-01

Monitoring and control of electric transformer stations, frequently spread out over small or large geographical areas, are achieved with supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). Quality function deployment (QFD) is a valuable analyzing tool in product design and development. To solve the uncertainty or inherent imprecision in QFD, many researchers have applied the fuzzy set theory to QFD and have developed various fuzzy QFD approaches. The literature regarding applying fuzzy QFD for ...

CDP - Adaptive Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Technology for Infrastructure Protection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marco Carvalho; Richard Ford

2012-05-14

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems are a type of Industrial Control System characterized by the centralized (or hierarchical) monitoring and control of geographically dispersed assets. SCADA systems combine acquisition and network components to provide data gathering, transmission, and visualization for centralized monitoring and control. However these integrated capabilities, especially when built over legacy systems and protocols, generally result in vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers, with potentially disastrous consequences. Our research project proposal was to investigate new approaches for secure and survivable SCADA systems. In particular, we were interested in the resilience and adaptability of large-scale mission-critical monitoring and control infrastructures. Our research proposal was divided in two main tasks. The first task was centered on the design and investigation of algorithms for survivable SCADA systems and a prototype framework demonstration. The second task was centered on the characterization and demonstration of the proposed approach in illustrative scenarios (simulated or emulated).

A Review of the Literature on Professional Doctorate Supervisory Styles

Science.gov (United States)

Johansson, Carol; Yerrabati, Sridevi

2017-01-01

At the core of doctoral education is the importance of the quality of the supervisor and student relationship. Research has shown that this relationship is directly linked to completion rates, and impacts the quality of the doctorate and its ultimate success or failure (Gill and Burnard, 2008). One influence on the supervisory relationship is the…

Improving The Average Session Evaluation Score Of Supervisory Programby Using PDCA Cycle At PT XYZ

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonny Jonny

2016-09-01

Full Text Available PT XYZ took People Development tasks as important things in order to provide great leaders for handling its business operations. It had several leadership programs such as basic management program, supervisory program, managerial program, senior management program, general management program, and the executive program. For basic management and supervisory programs, PT XYZ had appointed ABC division to solely handled them, while the rest, ABC division should cooperate with other training providers who were reputable in leadership ones. The aim of this study was to ensure that the appropriate leadership style has been delivered accordingly to the guideline to the employees by ABC division to improve the average session evaluation score of the supervisory program by using PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, and Action cycle. The method of this research was by gathering quantitative and qualitative data by using session and program evaluation format to see current condition. The research finds that the reasons why the program is below target 4,10 score. It is related to the new facilitator, no framework, and teaching aids. 

Selective Attention in Multi-Chip Address-Event Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giacomo Indiveri

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Selective attention is the strategy used by biological systems to cope with the inherent limits in their available computational resources, in order to efficiently process sensory information. The same strategy can be used in artificial systems that have to process vast amounts of sensory data with limited resources. In this paper we present a neuromorphic VLSI device, the “Selective Attention Chip” (SAC, which can be used to implement these models in multi-chip address-event systems. We also describe a real-time sensory-motor system, which integrates the SAC with a dynamic vision sensor and a robotic actuator. We present experimental results from each component in the system, and demonstrate how the complete system implements a real-time stimulus-driven selective attention model.

Selective attention in multi-chip address-event systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartolozzi, Chiara; Indiveri, Giacomo

2009-01-01

Selective attention is the strategy used by biological systems to cope with the inherent limits in their available computational resources, in order to efficiently process sensory information. The same strategy can be used in artificial systems that have to process vast amounts of sensory data with limited resources. In this paper we present a neuromorphic VLSI device, the "Selective Attention Chip" (SAC), which can be used to implement these models in multi-chip address-event systems. We also describe a real-time sensory-motor system, which integrates the SAC with a dynamic vision sensor and a robotic actuator. We present experimental results from each component in the system, and demonstrate how the complete system implements a real-time stimulus-driven selective attention model.

A NEW CLOUD BASED SUPERVISORY CONTROL AND DATA ACQUISITION IMPLEMENTATION TO ENHANCE THE LEVEL OF SECURITY USING TESTBED

OpenAIRE

A. Shahzad; S. Musa; A. Aborujilah; M. Irfan

2014-01-01

Now days cloud computing is an important and hot topic in arena of information technology and computer system. Several companies and educational institutes have been deployed cloud infrastructures to overcome their problems such as easy data access, software updates with minimal cost, large or unlimited storage, efficient cost factor, backup storage and disaster recovery and several other benefits compare with the traditional network infrastructures. In this research paper; Supervisory Contro...

Development of basic technology for instrumentation and control - Development of digital automatic supervisory limitation system and its design= validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Jung In; Chung, Sung Wook; Koh, Won Seok [Kyungwon University, Sungman (Korea, Republic of); Suh, Duk Young; Cheon, Sei Young [Kyunghee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Sang Kyung; Kim, Sung Hun [Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1995-07-01

A major objective of the project is to develop a digital automatic supervisory limitation system and validate its design for the next generation= nuclear power plant. The limitation system assures that the plant does not exceed the operating limits by regulation the plant operations through on-line monitoring the operating margins of the critical parameters. A new conceptual model of power maneuverability has been proposed for the design of the limitation system and for its validation. Also, the limitation system monitors overall operation processes throughout a nuclear power plant by implementing hierarchical communication networks. Based on the conceptual design in software of the 1 st year results, the detailed design of the limitation system has been performed during the 2 nd year with constructing a prototype digital system. The system consists of the software module for plant simulation and the hardware module for implementation of limitation system and the associated interfaces in hardware. The limitation algorithm were implemented into the microprocessor and the interfaces were realized through the I/O modules. Also, these modules are incorporated into the communication networks. The products of the project could be directly applicable to the following nuclear unit adopting the limitation system, providing the bumpless transition to the commercial design phase. And the prototype evaluation scheme will be very useful for the succeeding studies related to the digital nuclear I and C fields, such as fault-tolerance design methods, software verification and validation and response time execution of digital systems. 69 refs., 3 tabs., 44 figs. (author)

Supporting the Ukrainian Supervisory authority when installing of an enhanced operational monitoring system for Saporoshje NPP. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beyer, M.; Carl, H.; Reitz, T.

2000-07-01

The system to improve the operational monitoring of the unit 5 of the Zaporozh'ye NPP which was put into operation as a pilot project in the middle of the nineties has been extended to all six units and connected by means of modern communication hardware with the Information- and Crisis Centre (ICC) of the Ukrainian Supervisory Authority in Kiev. The technical means necessary for the completion of the local network in the Zaporozh'ye NPP were jointly specified, procured in Germany, tested in the necessary extent, consigned to the Ukraine and handed over free to the partner at the place of action. After an appropriate enlargement of the software for information processing, transfer and evaluation 159 safety related operational and 25 radiological measuring values of each of the six VVER-1000 units can be permanently recorded, online illustrated and evaluated on a computer in forms of diagrams, charts and graphs at the NPP site as well as transferred to the ICC. Thus, the same information quantity can be used for monitoring purposes in the ICC in Kiev. (orig.) [de

Definition of a Robust Supervisory Control Scheme for Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ponciroli, R.; Passerini, S.; Vilim, R. B.

2016-04-17

In this work, an innovative control approach for metal-fueled Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors is proposed. With respect to the classical approach adopted for base-load Nuclear Power Plants, an alternative control strategy for operating the reactor at different power levels by respecting the system physical constraints is presented. In order to achieve a higher operational flexibility along with ensuring that the implemented control loops do not influence the system inherent passive safety features, a dedicated supervisory control scheme for the dynamic definition of the corresponding set-points to be supplied to the PID controllers is designed. In particular, the traditional approach based on the adoption of tabulated lookup tables for the set-point definition is found not to be robust enough when failures of the implemented SISO (Single Input Single Output) actuators occur. Therefore, a feedback algorithm based on the Reference Governor approach, which allows for the optimization of reference signals according to the system operating conditions, is proposed.

Attentional System for Face Detection and Tracking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonardo Pinto da Silva Panta Leão

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The human visual system quickly performs complex decisions due, in part, to attentional system, which positions the most relevant targets in the center of the visual field, region with greatest concentration of photoreceptor cells. The attentional system involves sensory, cognitive and also mechanical elements, because the eye and head muscles must be activated to produce movement. In this paper we present the proposal of a face detector system that, as well as the biological system, produces a coordinated movement with the purpose of positioning the target image in the center of camera's visual field. The developed system has distinct parts, one responsible for video pattern recognition and other for controlling the mechanical part, implemented as processes that communicate with each other by sockets.

Areva - Press release from the Supervisory Board; Areva - Communique de presse du Conseil de Surveillance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marie, Patricia; Briand, Pauline; Floquet-Daubigeon, Fleur; Michaut, Maxime; Scorbiac, Marie de; Repaire, Philippine du

2012-02-14

During its meeting held on December 12, 2011, devoted in particular to the examination of the 2011 closing estimates, the AREVA Executive Board indicated that it expected to book a provision of 1.46 billion euros (2.025 billion US dollars) in the company's accounts for fiscal year 2011 for impairment of assets for the reporting entity UraMin, a mining company acquired by AREVA in 2007, which, given the provision booked in 2010 (426 million euros), brings the value of these assets on the AREVA balance sheet down to 410 million euros. Given the size of these provisions, the Supervisory Board decided to make three of its members, meeting as an ad hoc committee, in charge of analyzing the terms of acquisition of this company, as well as the key decisions made in this reporting entity up to 2011 and, based on the outcome of these analyses, to recommend to it any appropriate measures in AREVA's interest. This committee reported on its work during the Supervisory Board meeting held on February 14, 2012. In light of this report, the Supervisory Board found that the fairness and reliability of the financial statements of previous years were not in question. Nevertheless, considering the malfunctions raised, the Board considers it appropriate to thoroughly review AREVA's governance in order to ensure that decisions concerning large acquisitions or investments be reviewed and validated in the future under conditions ensuring better legal and financial security and enabling a more transparent dialogue between management and the Supervisory Board. It thus asked the Executive Board to recommend, at the next General Meeting of Shareholders, that the by-laws of the company be modified to make the Supervisory Board's prior approval of investments, stake acquisitions and acquisitions mandatory above a threshold of 20 million euros. It also decided to set up a business ethics committee within the Supervisory Board responsible for ensuring that rules of conduct are

5 CFR 6801.107 - Disqualification of supervisory employees from matters involving lenders.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... indebtedness is current and the indebtedness is on terms and conditions offered to the public: (i) Credit extended through the use of a credit card; (ii) Credit extended through use of an overdraft protection line...—(1) Consumer credit on nonpreferential terms. Disqualification of a supervisory employee is not...

Supervisory arrangements, LOLR and crisis management in a single European banking market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boot, A.W.A.

2006-01-01

In this paper I discuss some key issues related to supervisory arrangements in the EMU countries, and particularly those relating to the LOLR structure and crisis management. The focus will be on the responsibilities and powers of individual countries (and national central banks) vis-à-vis those at

Social Support and Supervisory Quality Interventions in the Workplace: A Stakeholder-Centered Best-Evidence Synthesis of Systematic Reviews on Work Outcomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SL Wagner

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background: There is controversy surrounding the impact of workplace interventions aimed at improving social support and supervisory quality on absenteeism, productivity and financial outcomes. Objective: To determine the value of social support interventions for work outcomes. Methods: Databases were searched for systematic reviews between 2000 and 2012 to complete a synthesis of systematic reviews guided by the PRISMA statement and the IOM guidelines for systematic reviews. Assessment of articles for inclusion and methodological quality was conducted independently by at least two researchers, with differences resolved by consensus. Results: The search resulted in 3363 titles of which 3248 were excluded following title/abstract review, leaving 115 articles that were retrieved and underwent full article review. 10 articles met the set inclusion criteria, with 7 focusing on social support, 2 on supervisory quality and 1 on both. We found moderate and limited evidence, respectively, that social support and supervisory quality interventions positively impact workplace outcomes. Conclusion: There is moderate evidence that social support and limited evidence that supervisory quality interventions have a positive effect on work outcomes.

Social Support and Supervisory Quality Interventions in the Workplace: A Stakeholder-Centered Best-Evidence Synthesis of Systematic Reviews on Work Outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, S L; White, M I; Schultz, I Z; Williams-Whitt, K; Koehn, C; Dionne, C E; Koehoorn, M; Harder, H G; Pasca, R; Wärje, O; Hsu, V; McGuire, L; Lama, I; Schulz, W; Kube, D; Wright, M D

2015-10-01

There is controversy surrounding the impact of workplace interventions aimed at improving social support and supervisory quality on absenteeism, productivity and financial outcomes. To determine the value of social support interventions for work outcomes. Databases were searched for systematic reviews between 2000 and 2012 to complete a synthesis of systematic reviews guided by the PRISMA statement and the IOM guidelines for systematic reviews. Assessment of articles for inclusion and methodological quality was conducted independently by at least two researchers, with differences resolved by consensus. The search resulted in 3363 titles of which 3248 were excluded following title/abstract review, leaving 115 articles that were retrieved and underwent full article review. 10 articles met the set inclusion criteria, with 7 focusing on social support, 2 on supervisory quality and 1 on both. We found moderate and limited evidence, respectively, that social support and supervisory quality interventions positively impact workplace outcomes. There is moderate evidence that social support and limited evidence that supervisory quality interventions have a positive effect on work outcomes.

Effect of yogic education system and modern education system on sustained attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Rangan, R; Nagendra, H R; Bhatt, Ramachandra

2009-01-01

Sustained attention is a vital function mediated by the right frontoparietal cortex. The Six Letter Cancellation Task (SLCT) measures sustained attention. Development of sustained attention in a yoga-based education system compared to a modern one is the theme of the present study. To compare the effectiveness of the Modern Education System (MES) and the Gurukula Education System (GES) in developing sustained attention. Forty nine boys (11-13 years) were selected from two residential schools, one MES and the other GES, providing similar ambiance and daily routines. The boys were matched for age and socioeconomic status. The GES educational program is based around integrated yoga modules while the MES provides a conventional modern education program. Sustained attention was assessed using the SLCT at the start and end of an academic year. Within groups, the pre-post test differences were significant for both groups. However, the between groups result showed improvement in the GES group compared to the MES group at a P < 0.001 significance level. The study suggests that both MES and GES improve sustained attention in school boys, but GES is more effective.

Simulation analysis of control strategies for a tank waste retrieval manipulator system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schryver, J.C.; Draper, J.V.

1995-01-01

A network simulation model was developed for the Tank Waste Retrieval Manipulator System, incorporating two distinct levels of control: teleoperation and supervisory control. The model included six error modes, an attentional resource model, and a battery of timing variables. A survey questionnaire administered to subject matter experts provided data for estimating timing distributions for level of control-critical tasks. Simulation studies were performed to evaluate system behavior as a function of control level and error modes. The results provide important insights for development of waste retrieval manipulators

FOOD SAFETY CONTROL SYSTEM IN CHINA

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Liu Wei-jun; Wei Yi-min; Han Jun; Luo Dan; Pan Jia-rong

2007-01-01

Most countries have expended much effort to develop food safety control systems to ensure safe food supplies within their borders. China, as one of the world's largest food producers and consumers,pays a lot of attention to food safety issues. In recent years, China has taken actions and implemented a series of plans in respect to food safety. Food safety control systems including regulatory, supervisory,and science and technology systems, have begun to be established in China. Using, as a base, an analysis of the current Chinese food safety control system as measured against international standards, this paper discusses the need for China to standardize its food safety control system. We then suggest some policies and measures to improve the Chinese food safety control system.

The elephant in the room: Dialogues about race within cross-cultural supervisory relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

White-Davis, Tanya; Stein, Emma; Karasz, Alison

2016-05-01

For centuries, the concept of race, a uniquely pervasive social construct, has often complicated dialogue and interactions between groups of people. This study assessed perceptions and attitudes of faculty and trainees with varied racial backgrounds within graduate medical and psychology programs. Self-reported responses addressed potential barriers and facilitating factors required for meaningful conversations about race. A brief 18-question survey was developed and administered electronically to three professional and academic Listservs within a large metropolitan city in northeast United States. Quantitative and qualitative analysis were conducted using SPSS Statistical Software and Text analyzer. Results revealed that among participants (N = 57) a majority experienced cross-racial supervision, and more than half indicated engaging in conversations about race within supervision. Respondents endorsed lack of comfort and lack of opportunity/time as significant barriers to discussing race within supervision. When race-related dialogues occurred, a majority of supervisees and supervisors found it beneficial. Most Supervisors of Color(a) actively initiated these conversations in supervision, while White supervisees endorsed the least benefit from these conversations. Contrary to our expectations, few respondents endorsed limited training as a barrier. The current study revealed cross-racial dialogues about race may be occurring frequently in supervisory relationships. Supervisees of Color reported benefiting from these dialogues, in contrast to their White counterparts, who endorsed the least benefit. Lack of comfort in supervisory relationships appears to be a significant barrier to having these conversations. Therefore, it is important for supervisors to create supervisory relationships emphasizing safety and comfort. Directions for future research are discussed. © The Author(s) 2016.

Supervisory support in Slovenian and Dutch organizations: a contextualizing approach

OpenAIRE

Dulk, Laura; Peper, Bram; Kanjuo Mrčela, Aleksandra; Ignjatović, Miroljub

2016-01-01

textabstractThis paper builds on the influential work of Suzan Lewis examining how employees’ work–life experiences are shaped by different layers of context. Our approach is therefore a comparative one using data from four organizational contexts in two countries, the Netherlands and Slovenia. Within each organization, we examine the role of different types of supervisory support (specific family support and general support) and the quality of the relationship between supervisor and subordin...

PENINGKATAN KEAMANAN SUPERVISORY CONTROL AND DATA ACQUISITION (SCADA PADA SMART GRID SEBAGAI INFRASTRUKTUR KRITIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Budi Setiawan

2016-10-01

Full Text Available SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems as the control unit of the smart grid has been used in almost various industries around the world in terms of automation systems. Smart grid technology combines the energy infrastructure and telecommunications and Internet networks. The system provides the operational ease and efficiency in the industry. However, the system has a lot of vulnerabilities in information security aspects that can have a major impact for the industry and even the economy. This study tried to design in building a smart grid cyber security, it includes the strategies that must be done and the information security system architecture to be built. The study was conducted qualitative in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and direct observation. Results of this research is the design strategy recommendations ddalam development of smart grid cyber security. Recommendation results of this study also intended as a suggestion-making framework for smart grid cyber security as a reference implementation of the smart grid in Indonesia.

A digital control and monitoring system for PWR waste-disposal systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueda, Toshiharu; Fuchigami, Kazuyuki; Shimozato, Masao; Takazawa, Kazuo

1982-01-01

Mitsubishi Electric has developed a digital control and monitoring system for PWR waste-disposal systems. This novel system has improved operability due to its automated operations and control, and integrated supervisory functions. The system includes other features to improve operability: sequence control by a control computer, direct-digital process control, integrated supervision of operation states by a supervisory computer and a high-speed dataway, and CRT interfacing between the computer and dataway. (author)

Two cognitive and neural systems for endogenous and exogenous spatial attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Chica, Ana B; Bartolomeo, Paolo; Lupiáñez, Juan

2013-01-15

Orienting of spatial attention is a family of phylogenetically old mechanisms developed to select information for further processing. Information can be selected via top-down or endogenous mechanisms, depending on the goals of the observers or on the task at hand. Moreover, salient and potentially dangerous events also attract spatial attention via bottom-up or exogenous mechanisms, allowing a rapid and efficient reaction to unexpected but important events. Fronto-parietal brain networks have been demonstrated to play an important role in supporting spatial attentional orienting, although there is no consensus on whether there is a single attentional system supporting both endogenous and exogenous attention, or two anatomical and functionally different attentional systems. In the present paper we review behavioral evidence emphasizing the differential characteristics of both systems, as well as their possible interactions for the control of the final orienting response. Behavioral studies reporting qualitative differences between the effects of both systems as well as double dissociations of the effects of endogenous and exogenous attention on information processing, suggest that they constitute two independent attentional systems, rather than a single one. Recent models of attentional orienting in humans have put forward the hypothesis of a dorsal fronto-parietal network for orienting spatial attention, and a more ventral fronto-parietal network for detecting unexpected but behaviorally relevant events. Non-invasive neurostimulation techniques, as well as neuropsychological data, suggest that endogenous and exogenous attention are implemented in overlapping, although partially segregated, brain circuits. Although more research is needed in order to refine our anatomical and functional knowledge of the brain circuits underlying spatial attention, we conclude that endogenous and exogenous spatial orienting constitute two independent attentional systems, with

A Safe Supervisory Flight Control Scheme in the Presence of Constraints and Anomalies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franzè Giuseppe

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper the hybrid supervisory control architecture developed by Famularo et al. (2011 for constrained control systems is adopted with the aim to improve safety in aircraft operations when critical events like command saturations or unpredicted anomalies occur. The capabilities of a low-computational demanding predictive scheme for the supervision of non-linear dynamical systems subject to sudden switchings amongst operating conditions and time-varying constraints are exploited in the flight control systems framework. The strategy is based on command governor ideas and is tailored to jointly take into account time-varying set-points/constraints. Unpredictable anomalies in the nominal plant behaviour, whose models fall in the category of time-varying constraints, can also be tolerated by the control scheme. In order to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach, simulations both on a high altitude performance demonstrator unmanned aircraft with redundant control surfaces and the P92 general aviation aircraft are discussed.

Perancangan Sistem Pemantauan Pengendali Suhu pada Stirred Tank Heater menggunakan Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ike Bayusari

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses design of a suhue control monitoring system in stirred tank heater system that has an important function in industrial processes. Monitoring of suhue control system in stirred tank heater is designed using Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA that control function of industrial processes. While the actuator to be controlled is the position of burner openings, so that the heat can be adjusted to meet a predetermined set-point. The suhue controller that is also used as a Remote Terminal Unit (RTU is Programmable Logic Controller (PLC. The testing result showed on SCADA system was quite good, where the average percentage of deviation for testing of set-point data was 0.76687%, and the percentage of deviation for testing of suhue data was 0.082%.

12 CFR 715.7 - Supervisory Committee audit alternatives to a financial statement audit.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... financial statement audit. 715.7 Section 715.7 Banks and Banking NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION... Committee audit alternatives to a financial statement audit. A credit union which is not required to obtain a financial statement audit may fulfill its supervisory committee responsibility by any one of the...

Building Effective Supervisory Relationships in the Online Counseling Course: Faculty and Student Responsibilities

Science.gov (United States)

Cicco, Gina

2014-01-01

This article will provide an outline for counselor educators and their students on how to develop and maintain solid supervisory relationships in the online classroom. Counselors-in-training are required to complete practicum and internship experiences during their graduate academic preparation. These field experience courses typically involve 100…

System for assessing classroom attention.

OpenAIRE

Raca Mirko; Dillenbourg Pierre

2013-01-01

In this paper we give a preview of our system for automatically evaluating attention in the classroom. We demonstrate our current behaviour metrics and preliminary observations on how they reflect the reactions of people to the given lecture. We also introduce foundations of our hypothesis on peripheral awareness of students during lectures.

Management and non-supervisory perceptions surrounding the implementation and significance of high-performance work practices in a nuclear power plant

Science.gov (United States)

Ashbridge, Gayle Ann

Change management has become an imperative for organizations as they move into the 21st century; up to 75 percent of change initiatives fail. Nuclear power plants face the same challenges as industrial firms with the added challenge of deregulation. Faced with this challenge, restructuring the electric utility has raised a number of complex issues. Under traditional cost-of-service regulation, electric utilities were able to pass on their costs to consumers who absorbed them. In the new competitive environment, customers will now choose their suppliers based on the most competitive price. The purpose of this study is to determine the degree of congruence between non-supervisory and supervisory personnel regarding the perceived implementation of high performance workplace practices at a nuclear power plant. This study used as its foundation the practices identified in the Road to High Performance Workplaces: A Guide to Better Jobs and Better Business Results by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the American Workplace (1994). The population for this study consisted of organizational members at one nuclear power plant. Over 300 individuals completed surveys on high performance workplace practices. Two surveys were administered, one to non-supervisory personnel and one to first line supervisors and above. The determination of implementation levels was accomplished through descriptive statistical analysis. Results of the study revealed 32 areas of noncongruence between non-supervisory and supervisory personnel in regard to the perceived implementation level of the high performance workplace practices. Factor analysis further revealed that the order in which the respondents place emphasis on the variables varies between the two groups. This study provides recommendations that may improve the nuclear power plants alignment of activities. Recommendations are also provided for additional research on high-performance work practices.

Neural mechanisms of selective attention in the somatosensory system.

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez-Ramirez, Manuel; Hysaj, Kristjana; Niebur, Ernst

2016-09-01

Selective attention allows organisms to extract behaviorally relevant information while ignoring distracting stimuli that compete for the limited resources of their central nervous systems. Attention is highly flexible, and it can be harnessed to select information based on sensory modality, within-modality feature(s), spatial location, object identity, and/or temporal properties. In this review, we discuss the body of work devoted to understanding mechanisms of selective attention in the somatosensory system. In particular, we describe the effects of attention on tactile behavior and corresponding neural activity in somatosensory cortex. Our focus is on neural mechanisms that select tactile stimuli based on their location on the body (somatotopic-based attention) or their sensory feature (feature-based attention). We highlight parallels between selection mechanisms in touch and other sensory systems and discuss several putative neural coding schemes employed by cortical populations to signal the behavioral relevance of sensory inputs. Specifically, we contrast the advantages and disadvantages of using a gain vs. spike-spike correlation code for representing attended sensory stimuli. We favor a neural network model of tactile attention that is composed of frontal, parietal, and subcortical areas that controls somatosensory cells encoding the relevant stimulus features to enable preferential processing throughout the somatosensory hierarchy. Our review is based on data from noninvasive electrophysiological and imaging data in humans as well as single-unit recordings in nonhuman primates. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

RTE - Business and sustainable development report 2015. Management report consolidated financial statements 2015. Report by the chairman of the supervisory board 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

After an introduction by the RTE's CEO, brief presentations of governance bodies (management board, executive committee, supervisory board), and a presentation of some statistics illustrating RTE activities and efficiency, the activity report addresses and illustrates some specific issues: moving for local to European scale by promoting electrical solidarity among the regions, climate solutions in support of sustainable, economical and efficient power system, experts solutions for tomorrow's electricity. The management report contains financial and legal information (significant events of 2015, economic environment, business and results, financing, financial structure, outlook for 2016, risk analysis), company information (employment, work organisation, labour relations, health and safety, training, diversity and equal opportunities, compliance with International Labour Organisation conventions), environmental information (general environmental policy, pollution and waste management, sustainable use of resources, climate change, protection and development of biodiversity), and societal information (local, economic and social impact of RTE's business, relations with people and organisations concerned by RTE's business, out-sourcing and suppliers, fair practices, other action to promote human rights). The third report presents the governance organisation of RTE (supervisory board, executive board, principles of remuneration of supervisory board and executive board members, general meetings, information publication). It describes the internal control at RTE (organisation, actors), presents the policy of risk management and control, activities of audit and control within RTE. It finally presents external controls made by different public bodies

Distinct effects of protracted withdrawal on affect, craving, selective attention and executive functions among alcohol-dependent patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Cordovil De Sousa Uva, Mariana; Luminet, Olivier; Cortesi, Marie; Constant, Eric; Derely, Marc; De Timary, Philippe

2010-01-01

The present study examined the effects of protracted alcohol withdrawal on affectivity, craving, selective attention and executive functions (EFs) in alcohol-dependent patients. Selective attention (The D2 Cancellation Test), flexibility (Trail Making Test), inhibition (Stroop Task), decision making (Iowa Gambling Task), craving (Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale) and state affectivity (Positive and Negative Affectivity Schedule) were assessed in alcohol-dependent patients (DSM-IV, n = 35) matched to non-alcohol-dependent participants (n = 22) at the onset (T1: day 1 or 2) and at the end (T2: days 14-18) of protracted withdrawal during rehab. Alcohol-dependent patients' abilities to focus their attention on relevant information, to switch from one pattern to another, to inhibit irrelevant information and to make advantageous choices were lower than those of control participants during both times of a withdrawal cure. No effect of time emerged from analyses for selective attention and EF deficits. Conversely, significant differences between T1 and T2 were observed for craving and affect scores indicating a weakening of alcohol craving and negative affect as well as an improvement of positive affect among patients from onset to the end of cure. Control functions of the Supervisory Attentional System (Norman and Shallice, 1986) were impaired and did not improve during a 3-week withdrawal cure, whereas alcohol craving and negative state affectivity significantly improved in parallel during this period. Implications for understanding the clinical processes of withdrawal are discussed.

Clinical test for Attention Enhancement System.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Baek-Hwan; Ku, Jeonghun; Jang, Dongpyo; Lee, Jaemin; Oh, Myungjin; Kim, Hun; Lee, Janghan; Kim, Jaeseok; Kim, Inyoung; Kim, Sunill

2002-01-01

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a childhood syndrome characterized by short attention span, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity, which often leads to learning disabilities and various behavioral problems. The prevalence rates for ADHD varied from a low of 2.0% to a high of 6.3% in 1992 statistics, and it may be higher now. Using Virtual Environments and Neurofeedback, we have developed an Attention Enhancement System for treating ADHD. And we made a clinical test. Classroom-based virtual environments are constructed for intimacy and intensive attention enhancement. In this basic virtual environment, subjects performed some training sessions. There are two kinds of training sessions. One is Virtual Reality Cognitive Training (VRCT) and the other is Virtual Reality Neurofeedback Training (VRNT). In VRNT, we made a change in the virtual environment by Neurofeedback. Namely, if the Beta ratio is greater than the specified threshold level, the change as positive reinforce is created in the virtual environment. 50 subjects, aged 14 to 18, who had committed crimes and had been isolated in a reformatory took part in this study. They were randomly assigned to one of five 10-subject groups: a control Group, two placebo groups, and two experimental groups. The experimental groups and the placebo groups underwent 10 sessions over two weeks. The control group underwent no training session during the same period of time. While the experimental groups used HMD and Head Tracker in each session, the placebo groups used only a computer monitor. Consequently, only the experimental Groups could look around the virtual classroom. Besides that, Placebo Group 1 and Experimental Group 1 performed the same task(Neurofeedback Training), and Placebo Group 2 and Experimental Group 2 also performed the same task(Cognitive Training). All subjects Continuous Performance Task(CPT) before and after all training sessions. In the number of correct answers, omission errors and signal

Supervisory training: From self awareness to leadership skills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kelly, M.

1991-01-01

This presentation will trace the development of the New York Power Authority's three-phase first line supervisory training curriculum. In twenty-two days of classroom training, this program follows our new supervisors though their first two years on the job. The objectives of this presentation are to: share the ups and downs experienced during the three years it took to design and fully implement the program; describe the rationale for, and content of, each of the program's three phases; and describe the corporate impact of the training, including the unexpected demand by higher level staff for similar comprehensive management development programs. Topics covered will include management support, needs assessment, program design and evolution, and training impact

Counseling and the Bystander-Equity Model of Supervisory Helping Behavior: Directions for EAP Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerstein, Lawrence H.; Bayer, Gregory A.

1991-01-01

Discusses contribution of Bystander-Equity Model of Supervisory Helping Behavior to pursuit of employee assistance program (EAP) research based on traditions of field of counseling. Offers structure for pursuing empirical and applied activities in EAP settings. Encourages counseling researchers and practitioners to respond to challenge of working…

Ownership balance, supervisory efficiency of independent directors and the quality of management earnings forecasts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunling Song

2013-06-01

Full Text Available In the Chinese securities market, with its characteristics of influence through personal relationships (Guanxi and underdeveloped standards of law and enforcement, can independent directors play the supervisory role expected by securities regulators? In this study we use the degree of precision and accuracy in corporate earnings forecasts as proxies for the quality of information disclosure by listed companies and examine the supervisory efficiency of independent directors with respect to information disclosure. Using data from 2007 to 2009, we find that in the absence of ownership balance, independent directors have a significant positive effect on the accuracy of management forecasts. In addition, the personal backgrounds of independent directors have specific effects on management earnings forecasts. Directors with certified public accountant (CPA expertise significantly improve the precision of management forecasts. However, directors with industrial expertise significantly reduce the precision of management forecasts. In other words, having directors with CPA expertise improves the independence of boards, but having independent directors with industrial expertise has the opposite effect.

Electrical supervisory control and data acquisition system for Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Facility (PREFRE-II) at Tarapur

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, V.K.; Kaushik, S.; Haneef, K.K.M.

2014-01-01

Power Reactor Fuel Reprocessing Facility (PREFRE II) is a radio-chemical plant located at Tarapur. The electric power supply to PREFRE-II plant has been provided from a 33 KV Sub-station located in PREFRE-II complex to meet the O and M requirement of plant. The major equipment of the substation includes HT switch board, dry type transformer, LT switch board, Diesel Generator (DG) set and Un-interrupted Power Supply (UPS) System. The power supply to the plant is provided at 415 V voltage level with the help of Power Distribution Boards (PDBs) and Motor Control Centres (MCCs) located at different floors of the plant. The parameters of the electrical equipment of substation and plant are recorded in each shift in the log-book, manually by the operator. To maintain the log-book, the operator needs to go closer to the individual equipment in radioactive area of the plant to read the parameters. The log-book method of monitoring is a cumbersome method and does not include fault event records, trends and diagnostic behavior of the equipment. Electrical Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (E-SCADA) system has been increasingly used in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) for control and monitoring of electrical parameters of plant and switchyard equipment. E-SCADA system has been designed, developed and implemented for PREFRE-II plant for remote monitoring of parameters of electrical equipment. E-SCADA system provides monitoring of electrical equipment and renders complete guidance and information with the help of Graphical User Interface (GUI) to the operator to take necessary action during normal and abnormal conditions. E-SCADA with intelligent communication features helps in reducing cabling from field equipment which enhances the fire safety of plant. As a result engineering, operation and maintenance efforts for monitoring are reduced considerably in terms of requirement of skilled man power and accurate data logging of electrical parameters. This system also helps to

Development of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Electrical Supply in Malaysian Nuclear Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zainudin Jaafar; Mohd Ashhar Khalid; Mohd Hanafiah Chik

2015-01-01

Nuclear Power supplies in Malaysia supplied from the power utility company Tenaga Nasional Berhad through several substations before reaching the building and equipment. The power supply is received and passed down through the 11000 V high voltage switch gears to 415 V 3-phase or 1-phase 240 V. The equipment used in this process is dangerous and monitoring hardware operating remotely (remote) is the best as only guard machinery may engage in business operations. Similarly, the supply of electrical parameters should be monitored to ensure safe and continuous supply of and according to the appropriate voltage for record and analysis when needed. This paper discusses the monitoring and data acquisition is performed using the system 'Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) was developed. (author)

Development and psychometric testing of the Supportive Supervisory Scale.

Science.gov (United States)

McGilton, Katherine S

2010-06-01

To describe the development and psychometric testing of the Supportive Supervisory Scale (SSS). The development of the items of the scale was based on Winnicott's relationship theory and on focus groups with 26 healthcare aides (HCAs) and 30 supervisors from six long-term care (LTC) facilities in Ontario, Canada. Content validity of the 15-item instrument was established by a panel of experts. Based on a secondary analysis of data collected from 222 HCAs in 10 LTC facilities in Ontario, Canada, the SSS was subjected to principal components analysis with oblique rotation. A two-factor solution was accepted, which is consistent with the theoretical conceptualization of the instrument. Factor I was labeled Respects Uniqueness and Factor II was labeled Being Reliable. Internal consistency of Factor I was .95, and that of Factor II was .91. Discriminant validity was also established. The focus groups revealed that "being available to staff" while "recognizing the HCA as an individual, and taking a moment to get to know them" was essential to feeling supported by their supervisor. The SSS is a reliable and valid measure of supervisory support of supervisors working in LTC facilities. At the core of supportive supervision is the supervisor's ability to develop and maintain positive relationships with each HCA. It is through respecting the uniqueness of each HCA and being reliable that supervisor-HCA relationships can flourish. Supportive leadership in LTC settings is a major contributor to HCAs' job satisfaction and retention and to quality of patient care. Therefore, a tool developed and tested to measure supervisors' supportive capacities in LTC is primal to evaluate the effectiveness of supervisors in these environments.

The Role of New Information Technologies in Facilitating Professional Reflective Practice across the Supervisory Triad.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodder, Jacqueline; Carter, David

This study investigated the role of new information management technologies in facilitating student teacher supervision across the supervisory triad of student teacher, cooperating teacher, and university supervisor. The study investigated how data routinely generated by teachers and stored within an Instructional Information Management System…

The µ-opioid system promotes visual attention to faces and eyes.

Science.gov (United States)

Chelnokova, Olga; Laeng, Bruno; Løseth, Guro; Eikemo, Marie; Willoch, Frode; Leknes, Siri

2016-12-01

Paying attention to others' faces and eyes is a cornerstone of human social behavior. The µ-opioid receptor (MOR) system, central to social reward-processing in rodents and primates, has been proposed to mediate the capacity for affiliative reward in humans. We assessed the role of the human MOR system in visual exploration of faces and eyes of conspecifics. Thirty healthy males received a novel, bidirectional battery of psychopharmacological treatment (an MOR agonist, a non-selective opioid antagonist, or placebo, on three separate days). Eye-movements were recorded while participants viewed facial photographs. We predicted that the MOR system would promote visual exploration of faces, and hypothesized that MOR agonism would increase, whereas antagonism decrease overt attention to the information-rich eye region. The expected linear effect of MOR manipulation on visual attention to the stimuli was observed, such that MOR agonism increased while antagonism decreased visual exploration of faces and overt attention to the eyes. The observed effects suggest that the human MOR system promotes overt visual attention to socially significant cues, in line with theories linking reward value to gaze control and target selection. Enhanced attention to others' faces and eyes represents a putative behavioral mechanism through which the human MOR system promotes social interest. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Involvement of experts in nuclear licensing and supervisory procedures who are known for their critical attitude towards nuclear technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schirp, W.

1996-01-01

The article discusses legal and procedural aspects in the context of expert opinions demanded by the supervisory and licensing authorities of nuclear power plants, and the role and activities of experts known for their critical approach to nuclear electricity generation. The aspects addressed are: Reasons to break the dominance of ''established'' experts who in general are members of the TUeV organisations (technical control boards), reasons for challenging motions such as suspicion of prejudice or insufficient expertise, order by the supervisory authority to take a ''dual approach'' and involve two experts for a task, as well as the relevant administrative and legal procedures. (orig./CB) [de

Talent in autism: hyper-systemizing, hyper-attention to detail and sensory hypersensitivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Baron-Cohen, Simon; Ashwin, Emma; Ashwin, Chris; Tavassoli, Teresa; Chakrabarti, Bhismadev

2009-05-27

We argue that hyper-systemizing predisposes individuals to show talent, and review evidence that hyper-systemizing is part of the cognitive style of people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). We then clarify the hyper-systemizing theory, contrasting it to the weak central coherence (WCC) and executive dysfunction (ED) theories. The ED theory has difficulty explaining the existence of talent in ASC. While both hyper-systemizing and WCC theories postulate excellent attention to detail, by itself excellent attention to detail will not produce talent. By contrast, the hyper-systemizing theory argues that the excellent attention to detail is directed towards detecting 'if p, then q' rules (or [input-operation-output] reasoning). Such law-based pattern recognition systems can produce talent in systemizable domains. Finally, we argue that the excellent attention to detail in ASC is itself a consequence of sensory hypersensitivity. We review an experiment from our laboratory demonstrating sensory hypersensitivity detection thresholds in vision. We conclude that the origins of the association between autism and talent begin at the sensory level, include excellent attention to detail and end with hyper-systemizing.

Memory-guided attention: Control from multiple memory systems

OpenAIRE

Hutchinson, J. Benjamin; Turk-Browne, Nicholas B.

2012-01-01

Attention is strongly influenced by both external stimuli and internal goals. However, this useful dichotomy does not readily capture the ubiquitous and often automatic contribution of past experience stored in memory. We review recent evidence about how multiple memory systems control attention, consider how such interactions are manifested in the brain, and highlight how this framework for ‘memory-guided attention’ might help systematize previous findings and guide future research.

Shifts in Competences between Member States and the EU in the New Supervisory System for Credit Institutions and their Consequences for Judicial Protection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Wissink

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM is a striking example of the tendency within the EU to transfer decisive, regulatory and enforcement powers to the EU level. The SSM involves a complex system of mixed administration in order to ensure effective banking supervision within the Eurozone. Whereas such mixed administration might be necessary in order to achieve effective cross-border supervision, it also creates legal uncertainties due to the different legal orders involved. In this paper, the effect of the mixed administration on formal and substantive judicial protection is discussed.The paper analyses the right of access to the courts in the case of common procedures and certain ECB decisions. Furthermore, it is examined whether the ECB and national competent authorities have adequate powers to carry out supervision within the SSM. Lastly, the paper pursues the issues with regard to substantive judicial protection in greater depth, in particular the right of respect for the home and the rights of defence.

The Development of Attention Systems and Working Memory in Infancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Greg D; Romano, Alexandra C

2016-01-01

In this article, we review research and theory on the development of attention and working memory in infancy using a developmental cognitive neuroscience framework. We begin with a review of studies examining the influence of attention on neural and behavioral correlates of an earlier developing and closely related form of memory (i.e., recognition memory). Findings from studies measuring attention utilizing looking measures, heart rate, and event-related potentials (ERPs) indicate significant developmental change in sustained and selective attention across the infancy period. For example, infants show gains in the magnitude of the attention related response and spend a greater proportion of time engaged in attention with increasing age (Richards and Turner, 2001). Throughout infancy, attention has a significant impact on infant performance on a variety of tasks tapping into recognition memory; however, this approach to examining the influence of infant attention on memory performance has yet to be utilized in research on working memory. In the second half of the article, we review research on working memory in infancy focusing on studies that provide insight into the developmental timing of significant gains in working memory as well as research and theory related to neural systems potentially involved in working memory in early development. We also examine issues related to measuring and distinguishing between working memory and recognition memory in infancy. To conclude, we discuss relations between the development of attention systems and working memory.

Self-Tuning Linear Quadratic Supervisory Regulation of a Diesel Generator using Large-Signal State Estimation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Jesper Viese; Bendtsen, Jan Dimon; Andersen, Palle

2016-01-01

In this paper, a self-tuning linear quadratic supervisory regulator using a large-signal state estimator for a diesel driven generator set is proposed. The regulator improves operational efficiency, in comparison to current implementations, by (i) automating the initial tuning process and (ii...... throughout the operating range of the diesel generator....

Shared visual attention and memory systems in the Drosophila brain.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruno van Swinderen

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Selective attention and memory seem to be related in human experience. This appears to be the case as well in simple model organisms such as the fly Drosophila melanogaster. Mutations affecting olfactory and visual memory formation in Drosophila, such as in dunce and rutabaga, also affect short-term visual processes relevant to selective attention. In particular, increased optomotor responsiveness appears to be predictive of visual attention defects in these mutants. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To further explore the possible overlap between memory and visual attention systems in the fly brain, we screened a panel of 36 olfactory long term memory (LTM mutants for visual attention-like defects using an optomotor maze paradigm. Three of these mutants yielded high dunce-like optomotor responsiveness. We characterized these three strains by examining their visual distraction in the maze, their visual learning capabilities, and their brain activity responses to visual novelty. We found that one of these mutants, D0067, was almost completely identical to dunce(1 for all measures, while another, D0264, was more like wild type. Exploiting the fact that the LTM mutants are also Gal4 enhancer traps, we explored the sufficiency for the cells subserved by these elements to rescue dunce attention defects and found overlap at the level of the mushroom bodies. Finally, we demonstrate that control of synaptic function in these Gal4 expressing cells specifically modulates a 20-30 Hz local field potential associated with attention-like effects in the fly brain. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study uncovers genetic and neuroanatomical systems in the fly brain affecting both visual attention and odor memory phenotypes. A common component to these systems appears to be the mushroom bodies, brain structures which have been traditionally associated with odor learning but which we propose might be also involved in generating oscillatory brain activity

Design Private Cloud of Oil and Gas SCADA System

OpenAIRE

Liu Miao; Mancang Yuan; Guodong Li

2014-01-01

SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system is computer control system based on supervisory. SCADA system is very important to oil and gas pipeline engineering. Cloud computing is fundamentally altering the expectations for how and when computing, storage and networking resources should be allocated, managed and consumed. In order to increase resource utilization, reliability and availability of oil and gas pipeline SCADA system, the SCADA system based on cloud computing is propos...

Aspects of the European system of financial supervision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nagy Zoltán B.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The study presents the main stages of the development of the European financial supervisory regulation and the current European System of Financial Supervision. The financial economic crisis highlighted the weaknesses in the supervisory system and the fact that the supervisor has an important role in consumer protection and in the mitigation of risk-taking by financial institutions. The European Union has developed a new financial strategy known as Banking Union, which has a three-pillar framework. These three pillars are the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Common Deposit Guarantee Scheme. This system is intended to achieve a single economic and monetary union at supranational level and to avoid the emergence of a new crisis as far as possible.

Attention, Joint Attention, and Social Cognition

OpenAIRE

Mundy, Peter; Newell, Lisa

2007-01-01

Before social cognition there is joint processing of information about the attention of self and others. This joint attention requires the integrated activation of a distributed cortical network involving the anterior and posterior attention systems. In infancy, practice with the integrated activation of this distributed attention network is a major contributor to the development of social cognition. Thus, the functional neuroanatomies of social cognition and the anterior–posterior attention ...

Supervisory Styles and Graduate Student Creativity: The Mediating Roles of Creative Self-Efficacy and Intrinsic Motivation

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Jibao; He, Changqing; Liu, Hefu

2017-01-01

Based on social cognitive theory and leadership theory, the current study tests a theoretical model linking supervisory styles (i.e. supportive and directive) with graduate student creativity via psychological cognitive factors (specifically, creative self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation). Results from a sample of 216 graduate students of 1…

Boundary Management in Doctoral Supervision: How Supervisors Negotiate Roles and Role Transitions throughout the Supervisory Journey

Science.gov (United States)

Benmore, Anne

2016-01-01

In this paper, boundary management illuminates understanding of the doctoral supervisory relationship. Boundary management is presented as a theoretical vehicle that helps to define and explain roles that supervisors employ at different junctures along the doctoral journey and how transitions between these are negotiated. The paper draws on the…

Concurrent TMS-fMRI Reveals Interactions between Dorsal and Ventral Attentional Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leitao, Joana; Thielscher, Axel; Tuennerhoff, Johannes

2015-01-01

interactively in this process. This fMRI study used concurrent transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a causal perturbation approach to investigate the interactions between dorsal and ventral attentional systems and sensory processing areas. In a sustained spatial attention paradigm, human participants......Adaptive behavior relies on combining bottom-up sensory inputs with top-down control signals to guide responses in line with current goals and task demands. Over the past decade, accumulating evidence has suggested that the dorsal and ventral frontoparietal attentional systems are recruited......-TMS relative to Sham-TMS increased activation in the parietal cortex regardless of sensory stimulation, confirming the neural effectiveness of TMS stimulation. Visual targets increased activations in the anterior insula, a component of the ventral attentional system responsible for salience detection...

Care neglect, supervisory neglect, and harsh parenting in the development of children's aggression: a replication and extension.

Science.gov (United States)

Knutson, John F; DeGarmo, David; Koeppl, Gina; Reid, John B

2005-05-01

To understand the effects of neglectful parenting, poor supervision, and punitive parenting in the development of children's aggression, 218 children ages 4 to 8 years who were disadvantaged and their mothers were recruited from two states to develop a sample that was diverse with respect to degree of urbanization and ethnicity. Multimethod and multisource indices of the predictive constructs (Social Disadvantage, Denial of Care Neglect, Supervisory Neglect, and Punitive Discipline) and the criterion construct (Aggression) were used in a test of a theoretical model using structural equation modeling. The results established the role of care neglect, supervisory neglect, and punitive parenting as mediators of the role of social disadvantage in the development of children's aggression, the importance of distinguishing between two subtypes of neglect, and the need to consider the role of discipline in concert with neglect when attempting to understand the parenting in the development of aggression.

Application of Functional Analysis on a SCADA System of a Thermal Power Plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LAKHOUA, M. N.

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to present firstly the functionality of a supervisory system for complex processes, and secondly to present the concepts of SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition systems. A functional analysis technique SADT (Structured Analysis and Design Technique has been applied on an example of a SCADA system of a thermal power plant. This technique allows a functional description of a SCADA system. The paper briefly discusses the functions of a SCADA system and some advantages of the application of functional analysis for the design of a human centered supervisory system. Then the basic principles of the SADT technique applied on the SCADA system are presented. Finally, the different results obtained from the SADT technique are discussed.

Pupillary Response as an Indicator of Processing Demands Within a Supervisory Control Simulation Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2015-05-07

Yerkes, R.M., and Dodson, J.D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit -formation. Journal of comparative neurology and psychology 18, 459-482. ...the amount of mental effort exerted (Kahneman, 1973; Beatty & Lucero-Wagoner, 2000; Andreassi, 2007). The vast majority of these studies , however...of this initial study , the authors were interested in investigating whether pupillometry data collected in a realistic UAV supervisory control

Home nurses' turnover intentions: the impact of informal supervisory feedback and self-efficacy.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Waeyenberg, Thomas; Decramer, Adelien; Anseel, Frederik

2015-12-01

To examine how home nurses' turnover intentions are affected by the quality and frequency of supervisory feedback and by their own self-efficacy. Little is known about effective retention strategies for the growing home healthcare sector that struggles to retain an adequate workforce. While the work environment and supervisors have been found to play a key-role in nurses' turnover intentions, home nurses mostly work autonomously and apart from their supervisors. These circumstances require a customized approach and need to be understood to ensure high-quality home health care. We used a correlational, cross-sectional survey design. A convenience sample of 312 home nurses was selected from a division of a large home health care organization in Flanders, Belgium. Data were collected in 2013 using structured questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics, structural equation modelling and relative weight analysis. The quality of feedback was related to lower levels of turnover intentions. This relationship was fully mediated by home nurses' self-efficacy. Frequent favourable feedback was directly related to lower turnover intentions while the relationship between frequent unfavourable feedback and turnover intentions was conditional on home nurses' level of self-efficacy. This study contributes to our understanding of home nurses' turnover intentions and the role of informal supervisory feedback and home nurses' self-efficacy. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Industrial Control System Process-Oriented Intrusion Detection (iPoid) Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-01

SUBJECT TERMS supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), Modbus, industrial control system, intrusion detection system 16. SECURITY...List of Tables iv Acknowledgments v 1. Background 1 2. iPoid Modbus Packet-Inspection Capability 2 2.1 Software Requirements 2 2.2 Startup ...Mr Curtis Arnold’s support of Industrial Control Systems–Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition research at the US Army Research Laboratory

Influence of Gender on the Supervisory Relationship: A Review of the Empirical Research from 1996 to 2010

Science.gov (United States)

Hindes, Yvonne L.; Andrews, Jac J. W.

2011-01-01

Twelve empirical studies published since 1996 regarding the effects of gender on the supervisory relationship are reviewed. Each study was reviewed and critiqued in relation to its methodology, research design, critical findings, and limitations. The results of these studies indicate that (a) gender influences the openness and affiliation one…

78 FR 47217 - Proposed Supervisory Guidance on Implementing Dodd-Frank Act Company-Run Stress Tests for Banking...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-05

... 10-50. More advanced portfolio segmentation can take several forms, such as by product (construction... CORPORATION 12 CFR Part 325 Proposed Supervisory Guidance on Implementing Dodd-Frank Act Company-Run Stress... 165(i)(2) of the Dodd-Frank Act Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (``DFA'') stress tests...

[Legislative and legal security of supervisory activities in the sphere of protection of consumers' rights and human well-being].

Science.gov (United States)

Rumiantsev, G I; Kutsenko, G I; Polesskiĭ, V A

2007-01-01

Sanitary legislation plays an important role in supervisory activities ensuring the protection of consumers' rights and human well-being. The paper considers the basic laws and standard acts allowing for legal regulation in this sphere of activities.

Introduction to Nuclear Power Plant Environment Supervisory Committee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Byung Il

2008-01-01

In Korea, there are five nuclear power plant sites, located at Yongkwang, Kori, Shin Kori, Uljin, and Wolsong. Each administrative district has its own NESC (Nuclear plant Environment Public Supervisory Committee) which consists of a steering committee and a center. The purpose of NESC is to let the public survey and inspect nuclear plant environment and then improve a clarity and confidence in plant construction and operation by themselves. In order to understand the situation of NESC and explore ways toward a better role of NESC, in this paper we try to enumerate a few major facts related to a current status of NESC. As a summary, there must be a great role of NESC in the relationship between the residents, a nuclear industry company and the related government division. Furthermore, NESC would certainly do its role for all sides provided that more strong definition of NESC in law, more financial supporting and more philosophical speculation for the being of NESC

Design on human supervisory control of safety management for advance NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nugroho, D.H.; Soentono, S.; Taryo, T.; Wahyon, P.I.

2006-01-01

Full text: Full text: Characteristics of an advance NPP related with economic and safety enhancement was represented on capabilities in intelligent control and diagnostic to provide nearly autonomous operation with anticipatory maintenance. An autonomous control system should enable automatic operation while adapting to component faults and system variable upsets. It needs therefore to have many intelligent capabilities, such as modeling, analysis, self-validation, diagnosis and decision. This paper describes a human supervisory control design for nuclear reactor fault management which collaborates between human and autonomous control. The beneficial of collaboration is provided based on belief of information value evaluated from Dempster's rule of evidence. The belief of the collaboration is better compared with single usage. The collaboration was conducted in which agent will autonomously and periodically be conducting surveillance by checking the component abnormalities in the plant if anomalies occur. The anomalies were determined using fault detection module. Thereby the system will be able to conduct preventive maintenance. In the situation of accident happened, hence the system will diagnose to determine the location of component failure autonomously. A human supervisor will then determine the action of decison making based on the prediction result. The decision making will be conducted based on the 4th Sheridan's autonomous level in which the autonomous control will execute the duty autonomously when the plant is in normal condition, or in the predictable accident range. But if the unpredictable accident occurs in the plant, the supervisor will then take over the role to control the plant, and the machine will do what commanded by the supervisor. Sistematically, the system explained before was represented by Traveling Salesman Problem-based surveillance, modified ART-2 artificial neural networks-based fault detection and Bayesian Networks-based fault

A neuromorphic VLSI device for implementing 2-D selective attention systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Indiveri, G

2001-01-01

Selective attention is a mechanism used to sequentially select and process salient subregions of the input space, while suppressing inputs arriving from nonsalient regions. By processing small amounts of sensory information in a serial fashion, rather than attempting to process all the sensory data in parallel, this mechanism overcomes the problem of flooding limited processing capacity systems with sensory inputs. It is found in many biological systems and can be a useful engineering tool for developing artificial systems that need to process in real-time sensory data. In this paper we present a neuromorphic hardware model of a selective attention mechanism implemented on a very large scale integration (VLSI) chip, using analog circuits. The chip makes use of a spike-based representation for receiving input signals, transmitting output signals and for shifting the selection of the attended input stimulus over time. It can be interfaced to neuromorphic sensors and actuators, for implementing multichip selective attention systems. We describe the characteristics of the circuits used in the architecture and present experimental data measured from the system.

Supervisory system for real time monitoring of transient thermal stresses in turbines rotors; Sistema supervisorio para el monitoreo en tiempo real de esfuerzos termicos transitorios en rotores de turbinas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Urquiza Beltran, Gustavo; Rios Miranda, Edmundo; Venegas Guzman, Ricardo; Alvarez Garcia, Gabriela [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

1991-12-31

This article presents a supervisory system that, as its main functions, assists the operator on base of the thermal stresses, monitoring in real time the high pressure (HP) and intermediate pressure rotors (IP) of a steam turbine during the start, shut down and/or sudden load changes. The system is based on a thermal model uni-dimensional integrated to the SIMPER (Information System for the Predictive Maintenance of Rotating Equipment), tested in a 300 MW unit of Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE). [Espanol] En este articulo se presenta un sistema supervisorio que, como funciones principales, asiste al operador con base en el monitoreo de esfuerzos termicos en tiempo real en los rotores de presion alta (PA) y presion intermedia (PI) de una turbina de vapor durante un arranque, paro y/o variaciones bruscas de carga. El sistema esta basado en un modelo termico unidimensional integrado al SIMPER (sistema informatico para el mantenimiento predictivo de equipo rotatorio), experimentado en una unidad de 300 MW de la Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

Supervisory system for real time monitoring of transient thermal stresses in turbines rotors; Sistema supervisorio para el monitoreo en tiempo real de esfuerzos termicos transitorios en rotores de turbinas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Urquiza Beltran, Gustavo; Rios Miranda, Edmundo; Venegas Guzman, Ricardo; Alvarez Garcia, Gabriela [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca (Mexico)

1992-12-31

This article presents a supervisory system that, as its main functions, assists the operator on base of the thermal stresses, monitoring in real time the high pressure (HP) and intermediate pressure rotors (IP) of a steam turbine during the start, shut down and/or sudden load changes. The system is based on a thermal model uni-dimensional integrated to the SIMPER (Information System for the Predictive Maintenance of Rotating Equipment), tested in a 300 MW unit of Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE). [Espanol] En este articulo se presenta un sistema supervisorio que, como funciones principales, asiste al operador con base en el monitoreo de esfuerzos termicos en tiempo real en los rotores de presion alta (PA) y presion intermedia (PI) de una turbina de vapor durante un arranque, paro y/o variaciones bruscas de carga. El sistema esta basado en un modelo termico unidimensional integrado al SIMPER (sistema informatico para el mantenimiento predictivo de equipo rotatorio), experimentado en una unidad de 300 MW de la Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE).

The relationship between constructivist supervisory practices, school climate, and student proficiency in reading, mathematics, and science: Evidence from NELS:88

Science.gov (United States)

Molnar, John Alexander

In an effort to improve instruction and student learning, school reform efforts have become prevalent. School reformers have examined many aspects of the school experience, including learning theories such as behaviorism and constructivism, the changing roles of teachers and supervisors, and even the concept of the school itself. The theoretical framework for this study centered around constructivist learning theory. The study itself focused on the application of constructivist learning theory to the supervisory process. The study examined five areas of interest: (a) teachers' perceptions of constructivist supervisory behavior; (b) teachers' perceptions of efficacy and control in the classroom; (c) teachers' perceptions of school climate; (d) teachers' perceptions of job satisfaction, and (e) the influences of each of the aforementioned on student proficiency in mathematics, reading, and science. Data for the study was drawn from the first follow-up survey of the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS: 88). NELS: 88 investigated a wide variety of factors that influence the educational process. The first follow-up focuses on environmental factors that affect teachers and students. Variables were selected from the NELS:88 data set that represented the areas to be examined. Factor analysis and correlational analysis were applied to ensure that the variables were measuring distinct constructs and to determine ways they could be grouped for analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to determine relationships among the individual and composite variables, controlling for student and teacher demographic factors. The results of the study suggest that varying relationships do exist between constructivist supervisory practices and the constructs measuring school climate and job satisfaction. The results also suggest that varying relationships exist between each of these factors and student proficiency in mathematics, reading, and science

The Focus of Attention is similar to other memory systems rather than uniquely different

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olivia eBeaudry

2014-02-01

Full Text Available According to some current theories, the Focus of Attention, part of working memory, represents items in a privileged state that is more accessible than items stored in other memory systems. One line of evidence supporting the distinction between the focus of attention and other memory systems is the finding that items in the focus of attention are immune to proactive interference (when something learned earlier impairs the ability to remember something learned more recently. The focus of attention, then, is held to be unique: it is the only memory system that is not susceptible to proactive interference. We review the literature used to support this claim, and although there are many studies in which proactive interference was not observed, we found more studies in which it was observed. We conclude that the focus of attention is not immune to proactive interference: items in the focus of attention are susceptible to proactive interference just like items in every other memory system. And, just as in all other memory systems, it is how the items are represented and processed that plays a critical role in determining whether proactive interference will be observed.

Design Private Cloud of Oil and Gas SCADA System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Miao

2014-05-01

Full Text Available SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system is computer control system based on supervisory. SCADA system is very important to oil and gas pipeline engineering. Cloud computing is fundamentally altering the expectations for how and when computing, storage and networking resources should be allocated, managed and consumed. In order to increase resource utilization, reliability and availability of oil and gas pipeline SCADA system, the SCADA system based on cloud computing is proposed in the paper. This paper introduces the system framework of SCADA system based on cloud computing and the realization details about the private cloud platform of SCADA system.

Psychological contract breach in the anticipatory stage of change : Employee responses and the moderating role of supervisory informational justice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Ruiter, M.; Schaveling, J.; Schalk, R.; Gelder, van D.

2016-01-01

This study examined the impact of two types of psychological contract breach (organizational policies and social atmosphere breach) on resistance to change and engagement in the anticipatory phase of change and assessed whether supervisory informational justice mitigated the negative effects of

Psychological contract breach in the anticipatory stage of change : Employee responses and the moderating role of supervisory informational justice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Ruiter, M.; Schalk, R.; Schaveling, Jaap; van Gelder, Daniel

This study examined the impact of two types of psychological contract breach (organizational policies and social atmosphere breach) on resistance to change and engagement in the anticipatory phase of change and assessed whether supervisory informational justice mitigated the negative effects of

Evaluation of an in-vehicle monitoring system (IVMS) to reduce risky driving behaviors in commercial drivers: Comparison of in-cab warning lights and supervisory coaching with videos of driving behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Jennifer L; Taylor, Matthew A; Chen, Guang-Xiang; Kirk, Rachel D; Leatherman, Erin R

2017-02-01

Roadway incidents are the leading cause of work-related death in the United States. The objective of this research was to evaluate whether two types of feedback from a commercially available in-vehicle monitoring system (IVMS) would reduce the incidence of risky driving behaviors in drivers from two companies. IVMS were installed in 315 vehicles representing the industries of local truck transportation and oil and gas support operations, and data were collected over an approximate two-year period in intervention and control groups. In one period, intervention group drivers were given feedback from in-cab warning lights from an IVMS that indicated occurrence of harsh vehicle maneuvers. In another period, intervention group drivers viewed video recordings of their risky driving behaviors with supervisors, and were coached by supervisors on safe driving practices. Risky driving behaviors declined significantly more during the period with coaching plus instant feedback with lights in comparison to the period with lights-only feedback (ORadj=0.61 95% CI 0.43-0.86; Holm-adjusted p=0.035) and the control group (ORadj=0.52 95% CI 0.33-0.82; Holm-adjusted p=0.032). Lights-only feedback was not found to be significantly different than the control group's decline from baseline (ORadj=0.86 95% CI 0.51-1.43; Holm-adjusted p>0.05). The largest decline in the rate of risky driving behaviors occurred when feedback included both supervisory coaching and lights. Supervisory coaching is an effective form of feedback to improve driving habits in the workplace. The potential advantages and limitations of this IVMS-based intervention program are discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Two systems drive attention to rewards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher K Kovach

2014-02-01

Full Text Available How options are framed can dramatically influence choice preference. While salience of information plays a central role in this effect, precisely how it is mediated by attentional processes remains unknown. Current models assume a simple relationship between attention and choice, according to which attention should uniformly bias preference towards the attended item over the whole time-course of a decision between similarly valued items. To test this prediction we considered how framing alters attention during a simple choice between two options, using eye movements as a sensitive online measure of attention. In one condition participants selected the less preferred item to discard and in the other, the more preferred item to keep. We replicated the well-known observation that gaze gravitates towards the item ultimately selected, but did not observe the effect to be uniform over time. Instead, we found evidence for distinct early and late processes that guide attention according to preference in the first case and task demands in the second. We conclude that multiple time-dependent processes govern attention during choice, and that these may contribute to framing effects in different ways.

Balancing Human-machine Interface (HMI) Design in Complex Supervisory Tasks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ha, Junsu; Kim, Arryum; Jang, Inseok; Seong, Poonghyun

2013-01-01

Human performance aspects such as plant performance, personnel task performance, situation awareness, cognitive workload, teamwork, and anthropomorphic/physiological factor are evaluated with the HUPESS. Even though the HUPESS provides evaluation results in each of the performance aspects for the integrated system validation (ISV), additional researches have been needed to develop methods on how to find out design deficiency leading to poor performance and give a solution for design improvement in HMI. The authors have developed a method of HMI design improvement for the monitoring and detection tasks which was named as 'DEMIS (Difficulty Evaluation Method in Information Searching)'. The DEMIS is a HMI evaluation method which bridge poor performance and design improvement. Lessons learned from the existing studies lead to a question about how to optimize the whole HMI design. Human factors principles provide the foundation for guidelines of various codes and standards in designing HMIs. Also in NPPs, a lot of guidelines directly from various codes and standard and derived from various research and development projects are available for designing MCR HMIs. In this study, a balancing principle and relevant two measures for HMI design optimization are proposed to be used in the HMI design of complex supervisory tasks in NPPs. The balancing principle is that a HMI element (e. g., an indicator or a push button) should be designed according to its importance

Balancing Human-machine Interface (HMI) Design in Complex Supervisory Tasks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ha, Junsu [Khalifa Univ. of Science, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates); Kim, Arryum; Jang, Inseok; Seong, Poonghyun [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-15

Human performance aspects such as plant performance, personnel task performance, situation awareness, cognitive workload, teamwork, and anthropomorphic/physiological factor are evaluated with the HUPESS. Even though the HUPESS provides evaluation results in each of the performance aspects for the integrated system validation (ISV), additional researches have been needed to develop methods on how to find out design deficiency leading to poor performance and give a solution for design improvement in HMI. The authors have developed a method of HMI design improvement for the monitoring and detection tasks which was named as 'DEMIS (Difficulty Evaluation Method in Information Searching)'. The DEMIS is a HMI evaluation method which bridge poor performance and design improvement. Lessons learned from the existing studies lead to a question about how to optimize the whole HMI design. Human factors principles provide the foundation for guidelines of various codes and standards in designing HMIs. Also in NPPs, a lot of guidelines directly from various codes and standard and derived from various research and development projects are available for designing MCR HMIs. In this study, a balancing principle and relevant two measures for HMI design optimization are proposed to be used in the HMI design of complex supervisory tasks in NPPs. The balancing principle is that a HMI element (e. g., an indicator or a push button) should be designed according to its importance.

Capturing Attention When Attention "Blinks"

Science.gov (United States)

Wee, Serena; Chua, Fook K.

2004-01-01

Four experiments addressed the question of whether attention may be captured when the visual system is in the midst of an attentional blink (AB). Participants identified 2 target letters embedded among distractor letters in a rapid serial visual presentation sequence. In some trials, a square frame was inserted between the targets; as the only…

Top-down attention affects sequential regularity representation in the human visual system.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Motohiro; Widmann, Andreas; Schröger, Erich

2010-08-01

Recent neuroscience studies using visual mismatch negativity (visual MMN), an event-related brain potential (ERP) index of memory-mismatch processes in the visual sensory system, have shown that although sequential regularities embedded in successive visual stimuli can be automatically represented in the visual sensory system, an existence of sequential regularity itself does not guarantee that the sequential regularity will be automatically represented. In the present study, we investigated the effects of top-down attention on sequential regularity representation in the visual sensory system. Our results showed that a sequential regularity (SSSSD) embedded in a modified oddball sequence where infrequent deviant (D) and frequent standard stimuli (S) differing in luminance were regularly presented (SSSSDSSSSDSSSSD...) was represented in the visual sensory system only when participants attended the sequential regularity in luminance, but not when participants ignored the stimuli or simply attended the dimension of luminance per se. This suggests that top-down attention affects sequential regularity representation in the visual sensory system and that top-down attention is a prerequisite for particular sequential regularities to be represented. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neuromorphic VLSI Models of Selective Attention: From Single Chip Vision Sensors to Multi-chip Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Indiveri, Giacomo

2008-09-03

Biological organisms perform complex selective attention operations continuously and effortlessly. These operations allow them to quickly determine the motor actions to take in response to combinations of external stimuli and internal states, and to pay attention to subsets of sensory inputs suppressing non salient ones. Selective attention strategies are extremely effective in both natural and artificial systems which have to cope with large amounts of input data and have limited computational resources. One of the main computational primitives used to perform these selection operations is the Winner-Take-All (WTA) network. These types of networks are formed by arrays of coupled computational nodes that selectively amplify the strongest input signals, and suppress the weaker ones. Neuromorphic circuits are an optimal medium for constructing WTA networks and for implementing efficient hardware models of selective attention systems. In this paper we present an overview of selective attention systems based on neuromorphic WTA circuits ranging from single-chip vision sensors for selecting and tracking the position of salient features, to multi-chip systems implement saliency-map based models of selective attention.

Neuromorphic VLSI Models of Selective Attention: From Single Chip Vision Sensors to Multi-chip Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giacomo Indiveri

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Biological organisms perform complex selective attention operations continuously and effortlessly. These operations allow them to quickly determine the motor actions to take in response to combinations of external stimuli and internal states, and to pay attention to subsets of sensory inputs suppressing non salient ones. Selective attention strategies are extremely effective in both natural and artificial systems which have to cope with large amounts of input data and have limited computational resources. One of the main computational primitives used to perform these selection operations is the Winner-Take-All (WTA network. These types of networks are formed by arrays of coupled computational nodes that selectively amplify the strongest input signals, and suppress the weaker ones. Neuromorphic circuits are an optimal medium for constructing WTA networks and for implementing efficient hardware models of selective attention systems. In this paper we present an overview of selective attention systems based on neuromorphic WTA circuits ranging from single-chip vision sensors for selecting and tracking the position of salient features, to multi-chip systems implement saliency-map based models of selective attention.

Multimodal neuroimaging evidence linking memory and attention systems during visual search cued by context.

Science.gov (United States)

Kasper, Ryan W; Grafton, Scott T; Eckstein, Miguel P; Giesbrecht, Barry

2015-03-01

Visual search can be facilitated by the learning of spatial configurations that predict the location of a target among distractors. Neuropsychological and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence implicates the medial temporal lobe (MTL) memory system in this contextual cueing effect, and electroencephalography (EEG) studies have identified the involvement of visual cortical regions related to attention. This work investigated two questions: (1) how memory and attention systems are related in contextual cueing; and (2) how these systems are involved in both short- and long-term contextual learning. In one session, EEG and fMRI data were acquired simultaneously in a contextual cueing task. In a second session conducted 1 week later, EEG data were recorded in isolation. The fMRI results revealed MTL contextual modulations that were correlated with short- and long-term behavioral context enhancements and attention-related effects measured with EEG. An fMRI-seeded EEG source analysis revealed that the MTL contributed the most variance to the variability in the attention enhancements measured with EEG. These results support the notion that memory and attention systems interact to facilitate search when spatial context is implicitly learned. © 2015 New York Academy of Sciences.

WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF THE SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CREDIT INSTITUTIONS AND THE REQUIREMENTS OF BASEL III

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MEDAR LUCIAN-ION

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The economic downturn and financial crisis has negative impacted the European banking system, which determined the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, after the implementation of "Basel I and Basel II", to conduct a new series of recommendations. The economic crisis has affected all types banking products and services, all models of supervision and all evaluation methods known. Credit institutions innovations, on the ease of promoting new products and services, absence amid of high quality capital who can absorb losses in the limit of liquidity, led to a deadlock on lending activity. Supervisory Committee appointed by the new "Basel III" recommendations, requires the introduction of minimum global standards for measuring and monitoring liquidity risk and also requires banks to triple quality capital reserve by 2015-2019, up to a 7% capital adequacy.

A Primitive Memory System for Attention Deployments: Some Recent Challenges and Their Resolution

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Árni Kristjánsson

2011-05-01

Full Text Available In the past my colleagues and I have presented evidence for the existence of a primitive memory for attention deployments. This memory system orients attention to features and locations of recent behavioral importance. A large part of the proposal is that the memory system facilitates attentional selection of features in the environment such as color, orientation, etc. I will review the findings behind these proposals. The bulk of this evidence comes from studies of history effects in vision, such as priming of visual search, and implicit learning in exogenously cued attention shifts. In addition, recent challenges to this view will be discussed (in particular, arguments that the facilitation from repetition in visual search tasks occurs at a relatively late stage of perceptual processing. Our recent investigations of these proposals suggest that there is indeed evidence for higher-level priming effects in visual search under certain conditions, but those findings do not challenge the basic proposals regarding the primitive memory system, since the evidence for feature-specific facilitation is robust.

ORNL 25 MV tandem accelerator control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Juras, R.C.; Biggerstaff, J.A.; Hoglund, D.E.

1985-01-01

The CAMAC-based control system for the 25 MV tandem electrostatic accelerator of the Holifield Heavy Ion Research Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) was specified by ORNL and built by the National Electrostatics Corporation. Two Perkin-Elmer 32-bit minicomputers are used in the system, a message switching computer and a supervisory computer. The message switching computer transmits and receives control information on six serial highways. This computer shares memory with the supervisory computer. Operator consoles are located on a serial highway; control is by means of a console CRT, trackball, and assignable shaft encoders and meters. Two identical consoles operate simultaneously: one is located in the tandem control room; the other is located in the cyclotron control room to facilitate operation during injection of tandem beams into the cyclotron or when beam lines under control of the cyclotron control system are used. The supervisory computer is used for accelerator parameter setup calculations, actual accelerator setup for new beams based on scaled, recorded parameters from previously run beams, and various other functions. Nearly seven years of control system operation and improvements will be discussed

Two systems drive attention to rewards.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovach, Christopher K; Sutterer, Matthew J; Rushia, Sara N; Teriakidis, Adrianna; Jenison, Rick L

2014-01-01

How options are framed can dramatically influence choice preference. While salience of information plays a central role in this effect, precisely how it is mediated by attentional processes remains unknown. Current models assume a simple relationship between attention and choice, according to which preference should be uniformly biased towards the attended item over the whole time-course of a decision between similarly valued items. To test this prediction we considered how framing alters the orienting of gaze during a simple choice between two options, using eye movements as a sensitive online measure of attention. In one condition participants selected the less preferred item to discard and in the other, the more preferred item to keep. We found that gaze gravitates towards the item ultimately selected, but did not observe the effect to be uniform over time. Instead, we found evidence for distinct early and late processes that guide attention according to preference in the first case and task demands in the second. We conclude that multiple time-dependent processes govern attention during choice, and that these may contribute to framing effects in different ways.

Attentional and non-attentional systems in the maintenance of verbal information in working memory: the executive and phonological loops.

Science.gov (United States)

Camos, Valérie; Barrouillet, Pierre

2014-01-01

Working memory is the structure devoted to the maintenance of information at short term during concurrent processing activities. In this respect, the question regarding the nature of the mechanisms and systems fulfilling this maintenance function is of particular importance and has received various responses in the recent past. In the time-based resource-sharing (TBRS) model, we suggest that only two systems sustain the maintenance of information at the short term, counteracting the deleterious effect of temporal decay and interference. A non-attentional mechanism of verbal rehearsal, similar to the one described by Baddeley in the phonological loop model, uses language processes to reactivate phonological memory traces. Besides this domain-specific mechanism, an executive loop allows the reconstruction of memory traces through an attention-based mechanism of refreshing. The present paper reviews evidence of the involvement of these two independent systems in the maintenance of verbal memory items.

Attentional and non-attentional systems in the maintenance of verbal information in working memory: the executive and phonological loops

Science.gov (United States)

Camos, Valérie; Barrouillet, Pierre

2014-01-01

Working memory is the structure devoted to the maintenance of information at short term during concurrent processing activities. In this respect, the question regarding the nature of the mechanisms and systems fulfilling this maintenance function is of particular importance and has received various responses in the recent past. In the time-based resource-sharing (TBRS) model, we suggest that only two systems sustain the maintenance of information at the short term, counteracting the deleterious effect of temporal decay and interference. A non-attentional mechanism of verbal rehearsal, similar to the one described by Baddeley in the phonological loop model, uses language processes to reactivate phonological memory traces. Besides this domain-specific mechanism, an executive loop allows the reconstruction of memory traces through an attention-based mechanism of refreshing. The present paper reviews evidence of the involvement of these two independent systems in the maintenance of verbal memory items. PMID:25426049

Attentional and non-attentional systems in the maintenance of verbal information in working memory: the executive and phonological loops.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valerie eCamos

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Working memory is the structure devoted to the maintenance of information at short term during concurrent processing activities. In this respect, the question regarding the nature of the mechanisms and systems fulfilling this maintenance function is of particular importance and has received various responses in the recent past. In the time-based resource-sharing model, we suggest that only two systems sustain the maintenance of information at the short term, counteracting the deleterious effect of temporal decay and interference. A non-attentional mechanism of verbal rehearsal, similar to the one described by Baddeley in the phonological loop model, uses language processes to reactivate phonological memory traces. Besides this domain-specific mechanism, an executive loop allows the reconstruction of memory traces through an attention-based mechanism of refreshing. The present paper reviews evidence of the involvement of these two independent systems in the maintenance of verbal memory items.

Genesis and Maintenance of Attentional Biases: The Role of the Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenaline System

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Mana R. Ehlers

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Emotionally arousing events are typically better remembered than mundane ones, in part because emotionally relevant aspects of our environment are prioritized in attention. Such biased attentional tuning is itself the result of associative processes through which we learn affective and motivational relevance of cues. We propose that the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NA system plays an important role in the genesis of attentional biases through associative learning processes as well as their maintenance. We further propose that individual differences in and disruptions of the LC-NA system underlie the development of maladaptive biases linked to psychopathology. We provide support for the proposed role of the LC-NA system by first reviewing work on attentional biases in development and its link to psychopathology in relation to alterations and individual differences in NA availability. We focus on pharmacological manipulations to demonstrate the effect of a disrupted system as well as the ADRA2b polymorphism as a tool to investigate naturally occurring differences in NA availability. We next review associative learning processes that—modulated by the LC-NA system—result in such implicit attentional biases. Further, we demonstrate how NA may influence aversive and appetitive conditioning linked to anxiety disorders as well as addiction and depression.

Attentional capture and engagement during the attentional blink: A "camera" metaphor of attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Zivony, Alon; Lamy, Dominique

2016-11-01

Identification of a target is impaired when it follows a previous target within 500 ms, suggesting that our attentional system suffers from severe temporal limitations. Although control-disruption theories posit that such impairment, known as the attentional blink (AB), reflects a difficulty in matching incoming information with the current attentional set, disrupted-engagement theories propose that it reflects a delay in later processes leading to transient enhancement of potential targets. Here, we used a variant of the contingent-capture rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm (Folk, Ester, & Troemel, 2009) to adjudicate these competing accounts. Our results show that a salient distractor that shares the target color captures attention to the same extent whether it appears within or outside the blink, thereby invalidating the notion that control over the attentional set is compromised during the blink. In addition, our results show that during the blink, not the attention-capturing object itself but the item immediately following it, is selected, indicating that the AB manifests as a delay between attentional capture and attentional engagement. We therefore conclude that attentional capture and attentional engagement can be dissociated as separate stages of attentional selection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Upward appraisal as a means for improving supervisory performance and promoting process improvement, with long-term implications for organizational change

Science.gov (United States)

Siegfeldt, Denise V.

1994-01-01

This study represents the implementation phase of an organizational development project which was initiated last year in the Management Support Division (MSD) at Langley Research Center to diagnose organizational functioning. As a result of MSD survey data from last year's effort, a Quality Action Team was created to address the responses compiled from the MSD Organizational Assessment Questionnaire and Follow-Up Questionnaire. The team was officially named the MSD Employee Relations Improvement Team (MERIT). MERIT's goal was to analyze major concerns generated by the questionnaires and to present feasible solutions to management which would improve supervisory performance, promote process improvement; and ultimately, lead to a better organization. The team met weekly and was very disciplined in following guidelines needed to ensure a fully functioning team. Several TQM tools were used during the team process, including brainstorming and the cause and effect diagram. One of the products produced by MERIT was a 'report card', more formally known as an upward appraisal system, to evaluate supervisory performance in the division office, its three branches, and in teams. Major areas of emphasis on the 47 item report card were those identified by employees through the previously administered questionnaires as needing to be improved; specifically, training, recognition, teamwork, supervision and leadership, and communication. MERIT created an enlarged and modified version of the report card which enabled scores for each individual supervisor to be recorded on a separate form, along with summary results and employee comments. Report card results have been compiled and fed back to the Division Chief and Assistant Division Chief. These individuals will in turn, feed the results back to the remaining supervisors and the team leaders. Although results differ among supervisors, some similarities exist. Communication generally appears to be adequate, which represents an

Federal supervisory authorities' power to issue directives in nuclear licensing procedures (Kalkar reactor)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1990-01-01

The Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) is concerned in its judgement with the legal instrument of Federal supervisory authorities' power to issue directives in nuclear licensing procedures (Kalkar reactor). Dealt with are questions concerning material and excercising competences, the Federal Government's right to issue directives and possible violation of Laender rights, as well as the legal position between Land and Federal Government, the necessity to issue clear directives, questions concerning the competence to issue directives and the Federal Government's duty to consider the overall interests (Federal Government and Laender interests), questions concerning constitutional state principles and the limits in the relations between Federal Government - Laender concerning legal competence. (RST) [de

Midwives' supervisory styles and leadership role as experienced by Norwegian mothers in the context of a fear of childbirth.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyberg, Anne; Severinsson, Elisabeth

2010-05-01

The aim of the present study was to describe the midwives' supervisory style and leadership role as experienced by pregnant women and new mothers in the context of a fear of childbirth. A service led by midwives can influence the quality of care. The sample consisted of 13 mothers. Data were interpreted by means of qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that the midwives' supervisory styles were related to their ability to create a trusting and caring relationship, demonstrate problem-solving capacity, and showing willingness, preparedness and courage to support the women. The midwives' leadership role was described as involving a crucial set of professional management skills and techniques. The findings have strengthened the argument for the provision of continuity of care to women who are afraid of childbirth. Further studies should focus more specifically on the implementation of research in practice. It is necessary for midwives to demonstrate leadership in order to develop practice, predict challenges and changes, provide different care delivery models and acquire an evidence base for care. This also demands systematic supervision to improve care outcomes.

Effect of Osmotic-Release Oral System Methylphenidate on Different Domains of Attention and Executive Functioning in Children with Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Blum, Nathan J.; Jawad, Abbas F.; Clarke, Angela T.; Power, Thomas J.

2011-01-01

Aim: This study investigated whether components of attention and executive functioning improve when children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are treated with osmotic-release oral system (OROS) methylphenidate. Method: Thirty children (24 males, six females; mean age 8y 6mo, SD 1y 11mo; range 6y 5mo-12y 6mo) with ADHD combined…

Support of the Ukrainean Supervisory Authority during the extension of the improved operational NCP monitoring. Final report part III

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beyer, M.; Carl, H.

2005-05-01

Technical systems to improve the operational monitoring for the three units of the South Ukraine NPP and for the 1 st unit of the Chmelnitzky NPP were put up by analogy with the systems for the Zaporoshye NPP and the Rovno NPP. For that up to 51 safety-relevant technological and 16 radiological parameters from every unit are available to the supervisory authority on-site and in the crisis centre in Kiev for collection and assessment. These parameters are transferred on-line by modern technical equipment once a minute. The developed evaluation software enables the visualisation of the monitoring results in form of diagrams, charts and graphs. By means of an archive modus the trends of all parameters can be analysed. With the integration of the technical equipment delivered for the sheltered room of the Zaporoshye NPP into the on-site existing remote monitoring system is it now possible to record and to evaluate essential safety-relevant parameters of the whole NPP also during severe accidents by means of modern technical equipment. (orig.)

Orienting of attention, pupil size, and the norepinephrine system.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabay, Shai; Pertzov, Yoni; Henik, Avishai

2011-01-01

This research examined a novel suggestion regarding the involvement of the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system in orienting reflexive (exogenous) attention. A common procedure for studying exogenous orienting of attention is Posner's cuing task. Importantly, one can manipulate the required level of target processing by changing task requirements, which, in turn, can elicit a different time course of inhibition of return (IOR). An easy task (responding to target location) produces earlier onset IOR, whereas a demanding task (responding to target identity) produces later onset IOR. Aston-Jones and Cohen (Annual Review of Neuroscience, 28, 403-450, 2005) presented a theory suggesting two different modes of LC activity: tonic and phasic. Accordingly, we suggest that in the more demanding task, the LC-NE system is activated in phasic mode, and in the easier task, it is activated in tonic mode. This, in turn, influences the appearance of IOR. We examined this suggestion by measuring participants' pupil size, which has been demonstrated to correlate with the LC-NE system, while they performed cuing tasks. We found a response-locked phasic dilation of the pupil in the discrimination task, as compared with the localization task, which may reflect different firing modes of the LC-NE system during the two tasks. We also demonstrated a correlation between pupil size at the time of cue presentation and magnitude of IOR.

RTE - 2013 Activity Report, 2013 Activity and Sustainable Development Report, financial results for 2013, Report of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-01-01

RTE is the operator of the high and extra high-voltage transmission system in France. RTE operates, develops and maintains it. This role places RTE at the heart of smart power, supplying its customers: generators, distribution system operators, industrial customers and traders. RTE deploys its expertise to achieve smart power, with three objectives: - To optimise the power system so that everything operates at the lowest cost, every second, whatever the weather brings, whatever the level of supply and demand. - To guarantee a secure power supply, by offering tools and mechanisms that can be used to adjust generation and power consumption. - To adapt the grid to energy transition through constant innovation. RTE counts 8,400 employees. This document gathers both French and English versions of the 2013 Activity and Sustainable Development Report and the English version of the 2013 financial results and of the Report of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Interhemispheric interaction expands attentional capacity in an auditory selective attention task.

Science.gov (United States)

Scalf, Paige E; Banich, Marie T; Erickson, Andrew B

2009-04-01

Previous work from our laboratory indicates that interhemispheric interaction (IHI) functionally increases the attentional capacity available to support performance on visual tasks (Banich in The asymmetrical brain, pp 261-302, 2003). Because manipulations of both computational complexity and selection demand alter the benefits of IHI to task performance, we argue that IHI may be a general strategy for meeting increases in attentional demand. Other researchers, however, have suggested that the apparent benefits of IHI to attentional capacity are an epiphenomenon of the organization of the visual system (Fecteau and Enns in Neuropsychologia 43:1412-1428, 2005; Marsolek et al. in Neuropsychologia 40:1983-1999, 2002). In the current experiment, we investigate whether IHI increases attentional capacity outside the visual system by manipulating the selection demands of an auditory temporal pattern-matching task. We find that IHI expands attentional capacity in the auditory system. This suggests that the benefits of requiring IHI derive from a functional increase in attentional capacity rather than the organization of a specific sensory modality.

Adaptive Attention Allocation Support: Effects of System Conservativeness and Human Competence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Maanen, Peter-Paul; Lucassen, Teun; van Dongen, Kees; Schmorrow, Dylan D.; Fidopiastis, Cali M.

2011-01-01

Naval tactical picture compilation is a task for which allocation of attention to the right information at the right time is crucial. Performance on this task can be improved if a support system assists the human operator. However, there is evidence that benefits of support systems are highly

Public service electric and gas company technical supervisory skills programs for nuclear power plant personnel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meredith, J.B.

1985-01-01

A series of training programs entitled Technical Supervisory Skills Programs for management personnel are described. The first level of this program, TSSP-1, is a seven week program designed for first-line supervisors and other selected management personnel responsible for directing the work forces in the stations. TSSP-1 includes training in PWR/BWR Technology, Supervision, Aberrant Behavior Identification, Labor Relations and Ethics, Technical Administration, Quality Assurance Program, On-the-job Training, and Specific Departmental Training. TSSP-2, TSSP-3, and TSSP-4 courses are described in this paper

Designing a neurofeedback device to quantify attention levels using coffee as a reward system.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Kok Suen; Lee, Jun Xiang; Lee, Poh Foong

2018-05-09

Work performance is closely related to one's attention level. In this study, a brain-computer interface (BCI) device suitable for office usage was chosen to quantify the individual's attention levels. A BCI system was adopted to interface brainwave signals to a coffee maker via three ascending levels of laser detectors. The preliminary test with this prototype was to characterize the attention level through the collected coffee amount. Here, the preliminary testing was comparing the correlation between the attention level and the participants' cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and scores from the 21-item depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21) and the attentional control scale (ACS) using ordinal regression. It was assumed that a greater CGPA would generate a greater attention level. The generated coffee amount from the BCI system had a significant positive correlation with the CGPA (p = 0.004), mild depression (p = 0.019) and mild and extremely severe anxiety (p = 0.044 and p = 0.019, respectively) and a negative correlation with the ACS score (p = 0.042). This simple and cost-effective prototype has the potential to enable everyone to know their immediate attention level and predict the possible correlation to their mental state.

Expert system driven fuzzy control application to power reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsoukalas, L.H.; Berkan, R.C.; Upadhyaya, B.R.; Uhrig, R.E.

1990-01-01

For the purpose of nonlinear control and uncertainty/imprecision handling, fuzzy controllers have recently reached acclaim and increasing commercial application. The fuzzy control algorithms often require a ''supervisory'' routine that provides necessary heuristics for interface, adaptation, mode selection and other implementation issues. Performance characteristics of an on-line fuzzy controller depend strictly on the ability of such supervisory routines to manipulate the fuzzy control algorithm and enhance its control capabilities. This paper describes an expert system driven fuzzy control design application to nuclear reactor control, for the automated start-up control of the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II. The methodology is verified through computer simulations using a valid nonlinear model. The necessary heuristic decisions are identified that are vitally important for the implemention of fuzzy control in the actual plant. An expert system structure incorporating the necessary supervisory routines is discussed. The discussion also includes the possibility of synthesizing the fuzzy, exact and combined reasoning to include both inexact concepts, uncertainty and fuzziness, within the same environment

Autocommander: A Supervisory Controller for Integrated Guidance and Control for the 2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, J. E.; Lawrence, D. A.; Zhu, J. J.; Jackson, Scott (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

This paper presents a hierarchical architecture for integrated guidance and control that achieves risk and cost reduction for NASA's 2d generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV). Guidance, attitude control, and control allocation subsystems that heretofore operated independently will now work cooperatively under the coordination of a top-level autocommander. In addition to delivering improved performance from a flight mechanics perspective, the autocommander is intended to provide an autonomous supervisory control capability for traditional mission management under nominal conditions, G&C reconfiguration in response to effector saturation, and abort mode decision-making upon vehicle malfunction. This high-level functionality is to be implemented through the development of a relational database that is populated with the broad range of vehicle and mission specific data and translated into a discrete event system model for analysis, simulation, and onboard implementation. A Stateflow Autocoder software tool that translates the database into the Stateflow component of a Matlab/Simulink simulation is also presented.

A bio-inspired method and system for visual object-based attention and segmentation

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, David J.; Khosla, Deepak

2010-04-01

This paper describes a method and system of human-like attention and object segmentation in visual scenes that (1) attends to regions in a scene in their rank of saliency in the image, (2) extracts the boundary of an attended proto-object based on feature contours, and (3) can be biased to boost the attention paid to specific features in a scene, such as those of a desired target object in static and video imagery. The purpose of the system is to identify regions of a scene of potential importance and extract the region data for processing by an object recognition and classification algorithm. The attention process can be performed in a default, bottom-up manner or a directed, top-down manner which will assign a preference to certain features over others. One can apply this system to any static scene, whether that is a still photograph or imagery captured from video. We employ algorithms that are motivated by findings in neuroscience, psychology, and cognitive science to construct a system that is novel in its modular and stepwise approach to the problems of attention and region extraction, its application of a flooding algorithm to break apart an image into smaller proto-objects based on feature density, and its ability to join smaller regions of similar features into larger proto-objects. This approach allows many complicated operations to be carried out by the system in a very short time, approaching real-time. A researcher can use this system as a robust front-end to a larger system that includes object recognition and scene understanding modules; it is engineered to function over a broad range of situations and can be applied to any scene with minimal tuning from the user.

The Influence of Supervisor Multicultural Competence on the Supervisory Working Alliance, Supervisee Counseling Self-efficacy, and Supervisee Satisfaction with Supervision: A Mediation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Crockett, Stephanie; Hays, Danica G.

2015-01-01

We developed and tested a mediation model depicting relationships among supervisor multicultural competence, the supervisory working alliance, supervisee counseling self-efficacy, and supervisee satisfaction with supervision. Results of structural equation modeling showed that supervisor multicultural competence was related to the supervisory…

CEBAF control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bork, R.; Grubb, C.; Lahti, G.; Navarro, E.; Sage, J.

1989-01-01

A logic-based computer control system is in development at CEBAF. This Unix/C language software package, running on a distributed, hierarchical system of workstation and supervisory minicomputers, interfaces to hardware via CAMAC. Software aspects to be covered are ladder logic, interactive database generation, networking, and graphic user interfaces. 1 fig

Effect of Unprofessional Supervision on Durability of Buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Yahaghi, Javad

2018-02-01

The durability of buildings which depends on the nature of the supervisory system used in their construction is an important feature of the construction industry. This article tries to draw the readers' attention to the effect of untrained and unprofessional building supervisors and their unethical performance on the durability of buildings.

A computer vision system for rapid search inspired by surface-based attention mechanisms from human perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohr, Johannes; Park, Jong-Han; Obermayer, Klaus

2014-12-01

Humans are highly efficient at visual search tasks by focusing selective attention on a small but relevant region of a visual scene. Recent results from biological vision suggest that surfaces of distinct physical objects form the basic units of this attentional process. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how such surface-based attention mechanisms can speed up a computer vision system for visual search. The system uses fast perceptual grouping of depth cues to represent the visual world at the level of surfaces. This representation is stored in short-term memory and updated over time. A top-down guided attention mechanism sequentially selects one of the surfaces for detailed inspection by a recognition module. We show that the proposed attention framework requires little computational overhead (about 11 ms), but enables the system to operate in real-time and leads to a substantial increase in search efficiency. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Charcterized surpervisory control system for elevators and its support equipment. Elevator koseika gun kanri system to sono shien sochi

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tobita, T.; Fujino, A.; Yoneda, K.; Ueshima, T. (Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo (Japan))

1991-12-20

Objective of elevators plural control system for performing the operation control of multiple elevators is to improve the service to users. The service improvement toward a conventional plural control system is mainly to reduce waiting time on the riding floor from the calling button being pushed till elevator reaching the riding floor. Subsidiary to it, merely energy-saving is carried out. In the present study, a characterized supervisory control system was developed to make plural supervisory control receiving the requests from users to reduce not only the usual waiting time but also riding time and congestion inside. In order to meet the requests of users, a characterized support equipment was produced dialogically by combining fuzzy ratiocination, production system as well as simulation. The effects thereof were confirmed. 12 refs., ll figs., 2 tabs.

Influence of Head Teachers' General and Instructional Supervisory Practices on Teachers' Work Performance in Secondary Schools in Entebbe Municipality, Wakiso District, Uganda

Science.gov (United States)

Jared, Nzabonimpa Buregeya

2011-01-01

The study examined the Influence of Secondary School Head Teachers' General and Instructional Supervisory Practices on Teachers' Work Performance. Qualitative and qualitative methods with a descriptive-correlational research approach were used in the study. Purposive sampling technique alongside random sampling technique was used to select the…

Activation of Brain Attention Systems in Individuals with Symptoms of ADHD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Dennis Rodriguez

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Previous research investigating attention and impulse control in individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD has largely ignored the symptomatic differences among the three subtypes of ADHD: ADHD-Inattentive Type, ADHD-Hyperactive/Impulsive Type, and ADHD-Combined Type. The present study examined attention and impulse control by focusing on these subtypes. Based on their self-reported symptoms of ADHD, participants belonged to one of four groups: ADHD-Inattentive, ADHD-Hyperactive/Impulsive, ADHD-Combined, and control. Cortical activity was recorded from participants during performance of a Go/NoGo task. The event-related potentials (ERP measured at frontal and posterior sites discriminated between the control group and participants with symptoms of ADHD. The control group consistently exhibited a higher P3 amplitude than all the ADHD groups. The main difference occurred at the frontal site, indicating that individuals with ADHD symptoms have deficits in the anterior attentional system, which mediates signal detection. Behavioral measures of signal sensitivity revealed that the ADHD-Inattentive and the ADHD-Hyperactive/Impulsive groups had more difficulty with the attention-demanding Go/NoGo respond-to-target task, while behavioral measures of response bias indicated that the ADHD-Hyperactive/Impulsive and the ADHD-Combined groups responded more liberally in the inhibition-demanding Go/NoGo suppress-to-target task.

Technology solutions to support supervisory activities and also to provide information access to the society

Science.gov (United States)

Paladini, D.; Mello, A. B.

2016-07-01

Inmetro's data about the conformity of certificated products, process and services are, usually, displayed at fragmented databases of difficult access for several reasons, for instance, the lack of computational solutions which allow this kind of access to its users. A discussion about some of the technological solutions to support supervisory activities by the appropriate regulatory bodies and also to provide information access to society in general is herein presented, along with a theoretical explanation of the pros and cons of such technologies to the conclusion that a mobile platform seems to be the best tool for the requirements of Inmetro.

Effect of Psychostimulants on Distinct Attentional Parameters in Attentional Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

OpenAIRE

LÓPEZ, JAVIER; LÓPEZ, VLADIMIR; ROJAS, DANIEL; CARRASCO, XIMENA; ROTHHAMMER, PAULA; GARCÍA, RICARDO; ROTHHAMMER, FRANCISCO; ABOITIZ, FRANCISCO

2004-01-01

Although there is extensive literature about the effects of stimulants on sustained attention tasks in attentional deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), little is known about the effect of these drugs on other attentional tasks involving different neural systems. In this study we measured the effect of stimulants on ADHD children, both in the electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during sustained attentional tasks and in psychometric performance during selective attentional tasks. These tas...

Management and supervisory training: Changing the culture/system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, L.F.

1991-01-01

Professional development training courses, and a unique promoting appraisal system have been combined in the form of a training matrix and are being used as a culture change agent. This training and system modification is currently being implemented within the Nuclear Materials Processing Division of the Savannah River Site. It is designed to help solve the systems problems of managers and supervisors while enabling subordinates to develop themselves professionally, and starts with a promoting appraisal between a manager and a subordinate. These easy to apply appraisals are becoming an integral part of the business system, and result in giving a manager greater control over business change and greater influence over the work each employee accomplishes

Attentional control of associative learning--a possible role of the central cholinergic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Pauli, Wolfgang M; O'Reilly, Randall C

2008-04-02

How does attention interact with learning? Kruschke [Kruschke, J.K. (2001). Toward a unified Model of Attention in Associative Learning. J. Math. Psychol. 45, 812-863.] proposed a model (EXIT) that captures Mackintosh's [Mackintosh, N.J. (1975). A theory of attention: Variations in the associability of stimuli with reinforcement. Psychological Review, 82(4), 276-298.] framework for attentional modulation of associative learning. We developed a computational model that showed analogous interactions between selective attention and associative learning, but is significantly simplified and, in contrast to EXIT, is motivated by neurophysiological findings. Competition among input representations in the internal representation layer, which increases the contrast between stimuli, is critical for simulating these interactions in human behavior. Furthermore, this competition is modulated in a way that might be consistent with the phasic activation of the central cholinergic system, which modulates activity in sensory cortices. Specifically, phasic increases in acetylcholine can cause increased excitability of both pyramidal excitatory neurons in cortical layers II/III and cortical GABAergic inhibitory interneurons targeting the same pyramidal neurons. These effects result in increased attentional contrast in our model. This model thus represents an initial attempt to link human attentional learning data with underlying neural substrates.

The Effects of an Equine Assisted Learning Supervision Intervention on Counselors'-in-Training Performance Anxiety, Counseling Self-Efficacy, and Supervisory Working Alliance

Science.gov (United States)

Meola, Cheryl C.

2017-01-01

Due to the complexity of the counseling process, counselors-in-training often experience performance anxiety when entering the counseling profession. Research shows that higher counseling self-efficacy (the belief in oneself to perform counseling skills successfully) helps decrease performance anxiety. Further, a strong supervisory working…

Dissociable influences of auditory object vs. spatial attention on visual system oscillatory activity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jyrki Ahveninen

Full Text Available Given that both auditory and visual systems have anatomically separate object identification ("what" and spatial ("where" pathways, it is of interest whether attention-driven cross-sensory modulations occur separately within these feature domains. Here, we investigated how auditory "what" vs. "where" attention tasks modulate activity in visual pathways using cortically constrained source estimates of magnetoencephalograpic (MEG oscillatory activity. In the absence of visual stimuli or tasks, subjects were presented with a sequence of auditory-stimulus pairs and instructed to selectively attend to phonetic ("what" vs. spatial ("where" aspects of these sounds, or to listen passively. To investigate sustained modulatory effects, oscillatory power was estimated from time periods between sound-pair presentations. In comparison to attention to sound locations, phonetic auditory attention was associated with stronger alpha (7-13 Hz power in several visual areas (primary visual cortex; lingual, fusiform, and inferior temporal gyri, lateral occipital cortex, as well as in higher-order visual/multisensory areas including lateral/medial parietal and retrosplenial cortices. Region-of-interest (ROI analyses of dynamic changes, from which the sustained effects had been removed, suggested further power increases during Attend Phoneme vs. Location centered at the alpha range 400-600 ms after the onset of second sound of each stimulus pair. These results suggest distinct modulations of visual system oscillatory activity during auditory attention to sound object identity ("what" vs. sound location ("where". The alpha modulations could be interpreted to reflect enhanced crossmodal inhibition of feature-specific visual pathways and adjacent audiovisual association areas during "what" vs. "where" auditory attention.

Protection of business and industrial secrets under the Atomic Energy Act and the relevant ordinances governing licensing and supervisory procedures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steinberg, R.

1988-01-01

The article deals with problems concerning the protection of secret information in licensing and supervisory procedures under the Atomic Energy Act and the relevant ordinances. The extent of the secret protection of business and industrial secrets is regulated differently for both procedures. These legal provisions have to be interpreted with due consideration for third party interests in information. (WG) [de

Combining segmentation and attention: a new foveal attention model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebeca eMarfil

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Artificial vision systems cannot process all the information that they receive from the world in real time because it is highly expensive and inefficient in terms of computational cost. Inspired by biological perception systems, articial attention models pursuit to select only the relevant part of the scene. Besides, it is well established that the units of attention on human vision are not merely spatial but closely related to perceptual objects (proto-objects. This implies a strong bidirectional relationship between segmentation and attention processes. Therefore, while the segmentation process is the responsible to extract the proto-objects from the scene, attention can guide segmentation, arising the concept of foveal attention. When the focus of attention is deployed from one visual unit to another, the rest of the scene is perceived but at a lower resolution that the focused object. The result is a multi-resolution visual perception in which the fovea, a dimple on the central retina, provides the highest resolution vision. In this paper, a bottom-up foveal attention model is presented. In this model the input image is a foveal image represented using a Cartesian Foveal Geometry (CFG, which encodes the field of view of the sensor as a fovea (placed in the focus of attention surrounded by a set of concentric rings with decreasing resolution. Then multirresolution perceptual segmentation is performed by building a foveal polygon using the Bounded Irregular Pyramid (BIP. Bottom-up attention is enclosed in the same structure, allowing to set the fovea over the most salient image proto-object. Saliency is computed as a linear combination of multiple low level features such us colour and intensity contrast, symmetry, orientation and roundness. Obtained results from natural images show that the performance of the combination of hierarchical foveal segmentation and saliency estimation is good in terms of accuracy and speed.

A theory of desynchronisable closed loop system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harsh Beohar

2010-10-01

Full Text Available The task of implementing a supervisory controller is non-trivial, even though different theories exist that allow automatic synthesis of these controllers in the form of automata. One of the reasons for this discord is due to the asynchronous interaction between a plant and its controller in implementations, whereas the existing supervisory control theories assume synchronous interaction. As a consequence the implementation suffer from the so-called inexact synchronisation problem. In this paper we address the issue of inexact synchronisation in a process algebraic setting, by solving a more general problem of refinement. We construct an asynchronous closed loop system by introducing a communication medium in a given synchronous closed loop system. Our goal is to find sufficient conditions under which a synchronous closed loop system is branching bisimilar to its corresponding asynchronous closed loop system.

An audience response system strategy to improve student motivation, attention, and feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Cain, Jeff; Black, Esther P; Rohr, Jürgen

2009-04-07

To implement an audience response system (ARS) to improve student motivation and attention during lectures and provide immediate feedback to the instructor concerning student understanding of lecture content in a Physiological Chemistry/Molecular Biology course. Students used ARS devices to respond to strategically placed questions throughout physiological chemistry/molecular biology lectures. The instructor inserted 6 to 7 questions that promoted student/class interactivity into each of several 50-minute lectures to focus students' attention and provide feedback on students' comprehension of material. Ninety-eight percent of first-year pharmacy (P1) students (n = 109) reported that strategically placed ARS questions throughout lectures helped them maintain attention. Reports from an independent focus group indicated that students favored this strategy. Furthermore, ARS feedback helped the instructor gauge student comprehension and adjust lectures accordingly. Focused, strategically placed ARS questions throughout lectures may help students maintain attention and stay motivated to learn. Feedback from these questions also allows instructors to adapt lectures to address areas of deficiency.

Cognition, emotion, and attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller-Oehring, Eva M; Schulte, Tilman

2014-01-01

Deficits of attention, emotion, and cognition occur in individuals with alcohol abuse and addiction. This review elucidates the concepts of attention, emotion, and cognition and references research on the underlying neural networks and their compromise in alcohol use disorder. Neuroimaging research on adolescents with family history of alcoholism contributes to the understanding of pre-existing brain structural conditions and characterization of cognition and attention processes in high-risk individuals. Attention and cognition interact with other brain functions, including perceptual selection, salience, emotion, reward, and memory, through interconnected neural networks. Recent research reports compromised microstructural and functional network connectivity in alcoholism, which can have an effect on the dynamic tuning between brain systems, e.g., the frontally based executive control system, the limbic emotion system, and the midbrain-striatal reward system, thereby impeding cognitive flexibility and behavioral adaptation to changing environments. Finally, we introduce concepts of functional compensation, the capacity to generate attentional resources for performance enhancement, and brain structure recovery with abstinence. An understanding of the neural mechanisms of attention, emotion, and cognition will likely provide the basis for better treatment strategies for developing skills that enhance alcoholism therapy adherence and quality of life, and reduce the propensity for relapse. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulation and Formal Analysis of Visual Attention in Cognitive Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosse, T.; Maanen, P.P. van; Treur, J.

2007-01-01

In this paper a simulation model for visual attention is discussed and formally analysed. The model is part of the design of a cognitive system which comprises an agent that supports a naval officer in its task to compile a tactical picture of the situation in the field. A case study is described in

Early Family System Types Predict Children's Emotional Attention Biases at School Age

Science.gov (United States)

Lindblom, Jallu; Peltola, Mikko J.; Vänskä, Mervi; Hietanen, Jari K.; Laakso, Anu; Tiitinen, Aila; Tulppala, Maija; Punamäki, Raija-Leena

2017-01-01

The family environment shapes children's social information processing and emotion regulation. Yet, the long-term effects of early family systems have rarely been studied. This study investigated how family system types predict children's attentional biases toward facial expressions at the age of 10 years. The participants were 79 children from…

Neuromorphic VLSI Models of Selective Attention: From Single Chip Vision Sensors to Multi-chip Systems

OpenAIRE

Giacomo Indiveri

2008-01-01

Biological organisms perform complex selective attention operations continuously and effortlessly. These operations allow them to quickly determine the motor actions to take in response to combinations of external stimuli and internal states, and to pay attention to subsets of sensory inputs suppressing non salient ones. Selective attention strategies are extremely effective in both natural and artificial systems which have to cope with large amounts of input data and have limited computation...

The attention habit: how reward learning shapes attentional selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Brian A

2016-04-01

There is growing consensus that reward plays an important role in the control of attention. Until recently, reward was thought to influence attention indirectly by modulating task-specific motivation and its effects on voluntary control over selection. Such an account was consistent with the goal-directed (endogenous) versus stimulus-driven (exogenous) framework that had long dominated the field of attention research. Now, a different perspective is emerging. Demonstrations that previously reward-associated stimuli can automatically capture attention even when physically inconspicuous and task-irrelevant challenge previously held assumptions about attentional control. The idea that attentional selection can be value driven, reflecting a distinct and previously unrecognized control mechanism, has gained traction. Since these early demonstrations, the influence of reward learning on attention has rapidly become an area of intense investigation, sparking many new insights. The result is an emerging picture of how the reward system of the brain automatically biases information processing. Here, I review the progress that has been made in this area, synthesizing a wealth of recent evidence to provide an integrated, up-to-date account of value-driven attention and some of its broader implications. © 2015 New York Academy of Sciences.

The independence of the Shari’a supervisory board in the Islamic financial institutions of the GCC countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samy Nathan Garas

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs are governed by two boards: the Board of Directors (BoD and the Shari’a Supervisory Board (SSB. The SSB is a panel of Shari’a scholars who act independently from other governance organs. This paper discriminates between dependent SSBs and independent SSBs by using twenty one variables, which are classified into three groups: the implementation of governance best practices, the recruitment of SSB members, and the relationship between the SSB members and other governance organs. This study is one of the first studies that provide empirical results about the SSB independence. Nevertheless, the research focuses exclusively on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC countries and excludes the other countries where Shari’a supervision might have different forms. The study has developed a hypothesis, which was tested by a questionnaire. Data was collected from 76 Shari’a Supervisory Boards, 73 Boards of Directors, and 59 shareholders of IFIs in the GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE during 2009. The discriminant analysis has been used in identifying both dependent and independent SSBs. The paper finds five variables relevant in discriminating the two groups. These variables are the incentives provided to the SSB; the average remuneration to the SSB members; the existence of the policy of penalties for violating the code of conduct; the relation between the SSB members and the BoD; and the role of executive management in recruiting SSB members.

[Attentional impairment in children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder].

Science.gov (United States)

Abbes, Zeineb; Bouden, Asma; Amado, Isabelle; Chantal Bourdel, Marie; Tabbane, Karim; Béchir Halayem, Mohamed

2009-10-01

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a heterogeneous disorder currently defined by clinical history and behavioral report of impairment. The Attention Network test (ANT) gives measures of different aspects of the complex process of attention. We ask if children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) will show a characteristic pattern of deficits on this test. The sample included 40 children (M=9 years) who performed the "Attention network test". Children with an ADHD diagnosis (N=20) were compared to a control group (N=20). The group of children with ADHD showed slower reaction times in all conditions (mean RT=866 ms; SD=234,063). Children with ADHD showed a significant impairment in their executive control system compared to healthy subjects, with slower reaction times in incongruent conditions and lower accuracy scores (RT=1064 ms; F(1.38) p=0.02). Our results showed that spatial orienting and alerting in ADHD was no different than controls (p=0,68). ADHD group showed a greater variable response (p=0,0001). The present study showed that impairment in executive control system and variability measures are the characteristic pattern of deficits in children with ADHD.

Supervisory Bullying, Status Inequalities and Organizational Context

Science.gov (United States)

Roscigno, Vincent J.; Lopez, Steven H.; Hodson, Randy

2009-01-01

Bullying has been increasingly identified as a significant social problem. Although much of this attention has centered on the context of schooling, researchers are now beginning to recognize that workplaces are also arenas rife with abusive, bullying behaviors. Personality attributes of bullies and victims have received attention, but much less…

Structure of the main control system for the FTU device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panaccione, L.

1983-01-01

The computer based control system for FTU (Frascati Tokamak Upgrade) machine is a distributed intelligence control system consisting of various subsystems, called ''specific units''. A specific unit can work as a stand-alone small system or as a part of more complex systems, together with other units, in any possible combination. In the case of combined units working mode, a dedicated specific unit performs supervisory functions. Communication between specific units is done on a dedicated bus-like network, in the form of temporary master-slave relationship. There are three groups of specific units: Plant Control Units, Supervisory Control Unit and Synoptic Handling Unit. Performances and structures of these specific units are described. In addition, a very simple hard-wired safety system works in parallel with the computer based control system, in order to save personnel and apparatus. (author)

Conventional and intelligent generalized supervisory control for combined cycle generating power stations.; Control supervisiorio generalizado convencional e inteligente para centrales de generacion de ciclo combinado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez M, Miguel A; Sanchez P, Marino [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca, Morelos (Mexico); Gonzalez Rubio S, Jose L [Cento Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo Tecnologico (Cenidet), Cuernavaca, Morelos (Mexico)

2005-07-01

Under the expectations of expansion of electric power generation in Mexico, this work exposes the development of a conventional and intelligent generalized supervisory control (CSG) for a combined cycle generation power plant. This one allows to obtain the optimal operation of the power plant through the automatic starting of the generating units and to obtain the maximum possible amount of electrical power in automatic and safe form. For the development of the CSG a control loop by temperature was implemented for the gas turbine system and a control loop by strangled pressure for the gas turbine and a control loop by strangled pressure for the steam turbine. The design of these supervisory systems was made with base in the critical limits on the involved variables of the process: blading average temperature, for the gas turbine (GT) and strangled pressure for the steam turbine (ST) [Spanish] Bajo estas expectativas de expansion de generacion de energia en Mexico, este trabajo expone el desarrollo de un control supervisorio generalizado (CSG) para una central generacion de ciclo combinado. Este permite lograr la operacion optima de la planta a traves del arranque automatico de las unidades generadoras y obtener la maxima cantidad posible de potencia electrica en forma automatica y segura. Para el desarrollo del CSG se implanto un lazo de control por temperatura para el sistema de turbina de gas y un lazo de control por presion estrangulada para la turbina de gas y un lazo de control por presion estrangulada para la turbina de vapor. El diseno de estos sistemas supervisorio se realizo con base en los limites criticos de las variables del proceso involucradas: temperatura promedio de empaletado para la turbina de gas (TG) y presion estrangulada para la turbina de vapor (TV)

Fostering employee service creativity: Joint effects of customer empowering behaviors and supervisory empowering leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Yuntao; Liao, Hui; Chuang, Aichia; Zhou, Jing; Campbell, Elizabeth M

2015-09-01

Integrating insights from the literature on customers' central role in service and the literature on employee creativity, we offer theoretical and empirical account of how and when customer empowering behaviors can motivate employee creativity during service encounters and, subsequently, influence customer satisfaction with service experience. Using multilevel, multisource, experience sampling data from 380 hairstylists matched with 3550 customers in 118 hair salons, we found that customer empowering behaviors were positively related to employee creativity and subsequent customer satisfaction via employee state promotion focus. Results also showed that empowering behaviors from different agents function synergistically in shaping employee creativity: supervisory empowering leadership strengthened the indirect effect of customer empowering behaviors on employee creativity via state promotion focus. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Nuclear power plant remote monitoring system of Hessen (KFUe Hessen) now fully available

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lettmann, W.; Merkel, M.

1991-01-01

The remote monitoring system for the Biblis nuclear power station has commenced operation in 1990. It is intended to provide the radiological data and other information required by the supervisory Land authority for performing its supervisory functions in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act. The monitoring station records and reports emissions of the reactor station during specified normal operation and as a result of incidents or accidents, measures local dose rates at four measuring stations at the power plant fence, and records the meteorological conditions. The system is explained in detail, including illustration and graphs. (BBR) [de

Central attention is serial but mid-level and peripheral attention are parallel—a hypothesis

Science.gov (United States)

Marois, Rene

2016-01-01

In this brief review, we will argue that attention falls along a hierarchy from peripheral through central mechanisms. We further argue that these mechanisms are distinguished not just by their functional roles in cognition, but also by a distinction between serial mechanisms (associated with central attention) and parallel mechanisms (associated with mid-level and peripheral attention). In particular, we suggest that peripheral attentional deployments in distinct representational systems may be maintained simultaneously with little or no interference, but that the serial nature of central attention means that even tasks that largely rely on distinct representational systems will come into conflict when central attention is demanded. We go on to review both behavioral and neural evidence for this prediction. We conclude that even though the existing evidence mostly favors our account of serial central and parallel non-central attention, we know of no experiment that has conclusively borne out these claims. As such, this paper offers a framework of attentional mechanisms that will aid in guiding future research on this topic. PMID:27388496

Attention focussing and anomaly detection in real-time systems monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Doyle, Richard J.; Chien, Steve A.; Fayyad, Usama M.; Porta, Harry J.

1993-01-01

In real-time monitoring situations, more information is not necessarily better. When faced with complex emergency situations, operators can experience information overload and a compromising of their ability to react quickly and correctly. We describe an approach to focusing operator attention in real-time systems monitoring based on a set of empirical and model-based measures for determining the relative importance of sensor data.

Expert Maintenance Advisor Development for Navy Shipboard Systems

Science.gov (United States)

1994-01-01

Estoril (EDEN) Chair: Xavier Alaman, Instituto de Ingenieria del Conocimiento, SPAIN "A Model of Handling Uncertainty in Expert Systems," 01 Zhao...for Supervisory Process Control," Xavier Alaman, Instituto de Ingenieria del Conocimiento, SPAIN - (L) INTEGRATED KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS IN POWER

Saccade Preparation Is Required for Exogenous Attention but Not Endogenous Attention or IOR

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Daniel T.; Schenk, Thomas; Rorden, Chris

2012-01-01

Covert attention is tightly coupled with the control of eye movements, but there is controversy about how tight this coupling is. The premotor theory of attention proposes that activation of the eye movement system is necessary to produce shifts of attention. In this study, we experimentally prevented healthy participants from planning or…

System and method for image mapping and visual attention

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, II, Richard A. (Inventor)

2011-01-01

A method is described for mapping dense sensory data to a Sensory Ego Sphere (SES). Methods are also described for finding and ranking areas of interest in the images that form a complete visual scene on an SES. Further, attentional processing of image data is best done by performing attentional processing on individual full-size images from the image sequence, mapping each attentional location to the nearest node, and then summing all attentional locations at each node.

Attentive novelty detection in humans is governed by pre-attentive sensory memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Tiitinen, H; May, P; Reinikainen, K; Näätänen, R

1994-11-03

Being able to detect unusual, possibly dangerous events in the environment is a fundamental ability that helps ensure the survival of biological organisms. Novelty detection requires a memory system that models (builds neural representations of) events in the environment, so that changes are detected because they violate the predictions of the model. The earliest physiologically measurable brain response to novel auditory stimuli is the mismatch negativity, MMN, a component of the event-related potential. It is elicited when a predictable series of unvarying stimuli is unexpectedly followed by a deviating stimulus. As the occurrence of MMN is not usually affected by the direction of attention, MMN reflects the operation of automatic sensory (echoic) memory, the earliest memory system that builds traces of the acoustic environment against which new stimuli can be compared. The dependence of attentive novelty detection on earlier, pre-attentive processes, however, has remained elusive. Previous, related studies seem to suggest a relationship between MMN and attentive processes, although no conclusive evidence has so far been shown. Here we address novelty detection in humans both on a physiological and behavioural level, and show how attentive novelty detection is governed by a pre-attentive sensory memory mechanism.

Attentional load and attentional boost: A review of data and theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khena M Swallow

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Both perceptual and cognitive processes are limited in capacity. As a result, attention is selective, prioritizing items and tasks that are important for adaptive behavior. However, a number of recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggest that, at least under some circumstances, increasing attention to one task can enhance performance in a second task (e.g., the attentional boost effect. Here we review these findings and suggest a new theoretical framework, the dual-task interaction model, that integrates these findings with current views of attentional selection. To reconcile the attentional boost effect with the effects of attentional load, we suggest that temporal selection results in a temporally specific enhancement across modalities, tasks, and spatial locations. Moreover, the effects of temporal selection may be best observed when the attentional system is optimally tuned to the temporal dynamics of incoming stimuli. Several avenues of research motivated by the dual-task interaction model are then discussed.

Attentional load and attentional boost: a review of data and theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Swallow, Khena M; Jiang, Yuhong V

2013-01-01

Both perceptual and cognitive processes are limited in capacity. As a result, attention is selective, prioritizing items and tasks that are important for adaptive behavior. However, a number of recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggest that, at least under some circumstances, increasing attention to one task can enhance performance in a second task (e.g., the attentional boost effect). Here we review these findings and suggest a new theoretical framework, the dual-task interaction model, that integrates these findings with current views of attentional selection. To reconcile the attentional boost effect with the effects of attentional load, we suggest that temporal selection results in a temporally specific enhancement across modalities, tasks, and spatial locations. Moreover, the effects of temporal selection may be best observed when the attentional system is optimally tuned to the temporal dynamics of incoming stimuli. Several avenues of research motivated by the dual-task interaction model are then discussed.

Attentional Load and Attentional Boost: A Review of Data and Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Swallow, Khena M.; Jiang, Yuhong V.

2013-01-01

Both perceptual and cognitive processes are limited in capacity. As a result, attention is selective, prioritizing items and tasks that are important for adaptive behavior. However, a number of recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies suggest that, at least under some circumstances, increasing attention to one task can enhance performance in a second task (e.g., the attentional boost effect). Here we review these findings and suggest a new theoretical framework, the dual-task interaction model, that integrates these findings with current views of attentional selection. To reconcile the attentional boost effect with the effects of attentional load, we suggest that temporal selection results in a temporally specific enhancement across modalities, tasks, and spatial locations. Moreover, the effects of temporal selection may be best observed when the attentional system is optimally tuned to the temporal dynamics of incoming stimuli. Several avenues of research motivated by the dual-task interaction model are then discussed. PMID:23730294

State-feedback control of fuzzy discrete-event systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Feng; Ying, Hao

2010-06-01

In a 2002 paper, we combined fuzzy logic with discrete-event systems (DESs) and established an automaton model of fuzzy DESs (FDESs). The model can effectively represent deterministic uncertainties and vagueness, as well as human subjective observation and judgment inherent to many real-world problems, particularly those in biomedicine. We also investigated optimal control of FDESs and applied the results to optimize HIV/AIDS treatments for individual patients. Since then, other researchers have investigated supervisory control problems in FDESs, and several results have been obtained. These results are mostly derived by extending the traditional supervisory control of (crisp) DESs, which are string based. In this paper, we develop state-feedback control of FDESs that is different from the supervisory control extensions. We use state space to describe the system behaviors and use state feedback in control. Both disablement and enforcement are allowed. Furthermore, we study controllability based on the state space and prove that a controller exists if and only if the controlled system behavior is (state-based) controllable. We discuss various properties of the state-based controllability. Aside from novelty, the proposed new framework has the advantages of being able to address a wide range of practical problems that cannot be effectively dealt with by existing approaches. We use the diabetes treatment as an example to illustrate some key aspects of our theoretical results.

Evaluating and tuning system response in the MFTF-B control and diagnostics computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palasek, R.L.; Butner, D.N.; Minor, E.G.

1983-01-01

The software system running on the Supervisory Control and Diagnostics System (SCDS) of MFTF-B is, for the major part, an event driven one. Regular, periodic polling of sensors' outputs takes place only at the local level, in the sensors' corresponding local control microcomputers (LCC's). An LCC reports a sensor's value to the supervisory computer only if there was a significant change. This report is passed as a message, routed among and acted upon by a network of applications and systems tasks within the supervisory computer (SCDS). Commands from the operator's console are similarly routed through a network of tasks, but in the oppostie direction to the experiment's hardware. In a network such as this, response time is partialy determined by system traffic. Because the hardware of MFTF-B will not be connected to the computer system for another two years, we are using the local control computers to simulate the event driven traffic that we expect to see during MFTF-B operation. In this paper we show how we are using the simulator to measure and evaluate response, loading, throughput, and utilization of components within the computer system. Measurement of the system under simulation allows us to identify bottlenecks and verify their unloosening. We also use the traffic simulators to evaluate prototypes of different algorithms for selected tasks, comparing their responses under the spectrum of traffic intensities

Attention without awareness: Attentional modulation of perceptual grouping without awareness.

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Shih-Yu

2018-04-01

Perceptual grouping is the process through which the perceptual system combines local stimuli into a more global perceptual unit. Previous studies have shown attention to be a modulatory factor for perceptual grouping. However, these studies mainly used explicit measurements, and, thus, whether attention can modulate perceptual grouping without awareness is still relatively unexplored. To clarify the relationship between attention and perceptual grouping, the present study aims to explore how attention interacts with perceptual grouping without awareness. The task was to judge the relative lengths of two centrally presented horizontal bars while a railway-shaped pattern defined by color similarity was presented in the background. Although the observers were unaware of the railway-shaped pattern, their line-length judgment was biased by that pattern, which induced a Ponzo illusion, indicating grouping without awareness. More importantly, an attentional modulatory effect without awareness was manifested as evident by the observer's performance being more often biased when the railway-shaped pattern was formed by an attended color than when it was formed by an unattended one. Also, the attentional modulation effect was shown to be dynamic, being more pronounced with a short presentation time than a longer one. The results of the present study not only clarify the relationship between attention and perceptual grouping but also further contribute to our understanding of attention and awareness by corroborating the dissociation between attention and awareness.

Interaction between attentional systems and episodic memory encoding: the impact of conflict on binding of information.

Science.gov (United States)

Sperduti, Marco; Armougum, Allan; Makowski, Dominique; Blondé, Philippe; Piolino, Pascale

2017-12-01

Episodic memory (EM) is defined as a long-term memory system that stores information that can be retrieved along with details of the context of the original events (binding). Several studies have shown that manipulation of attention during encoding can impact subsequent memory performance. An influential model of attention distinguishes between three partially independent attentional networks: the alerting, the orienting and the executive or conflict resolution component. To date, the impact of the engagement of these sub-systems during encoding on item and relational context binding has not been investigated. Here, we developed a new task combining the Attentional Network Test and an incidental episodic memory encoding task to study this issue. We reported that when the alerting network was not solicited, resolving conflict hindered item encoding. Moreover, resolving conflict, independently of the cueing condition, had a negative impact on context binding. These novel findings could have a potential impact in the understanding EM formation, and memory disorders in different populations, including healthy elderly people.

Modeling Supermarket Refrigeration Systems for Demand-Side Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2013-01-01

Modeling of supermarket refrigeration systems for supervisory control in the smart grid is presented in this paper. A modular modeling approach is proposed in which each module is modeled and identified separately. The focus of the work is on estimating the power consumption of the system while...

Hacking of water and electric utilities; Waterzuiveringen zijn gemakkelijk te hacken

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van de Kelft, D. [Waterschapsbedrijf Limburg, Roermond (Netherlands)

2004-03-01

Attention is paid to the fact that control systems (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems or SCADA) of electric power plants and water purification installations are easy targets for hackers and computer viruses. [Dutch] De besturingssystemen van energiecentrales en waterzuiveringsinstallaties worden steeds vaker gekoppeld aan internet of andere netwerken in het bedrijf. Dat maakt de systemen een gemakkelijk doelwit voor hackers en virussen. Er wordt gepleit voor een integrale aanpak van de beveiliging.

A process evaluation of a supervisory development programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jasper Buys

2012-07-01

Research purpose: The study aimed to provide information about coverage, service delivery, organisational resources, and medium-term outcomes for a supervisory development programme (SDP in the hospitality industry. Motivation for the study: The primary motivation was to assist programme staff to understand their programme and also to generate information that the programme staff could use to reflect on the programme’s performance and future direction. Research design, approach and method: A mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods was employed, namely: a literature review; personal interviews; and internal programme documentation, such as e-mail correspondence, financial statements, attendance registers, and personnel records. Personal interviews were conducted with two stakeholders, namely the programme manager and programme administrator. The programme data of 69 participants in the SDP were utilised for the evaluation. Main findings: The evaluation’s main finding concluded that the ‘implemented programme’ was not congruent with the ‘planned programme’. Practical/managerial implications: It is recommended that programme activities and theory should be re-evaluated, as the programme is used mainly as a training programme for new appointees, rather than a management development programme to create a pool of potential supervisors. Programme uptake and output should also be closely aligned. The length of time that people in the pool of potential supervisors had to wait before they were appointed should also be reduced. Contribution/value-add: By explicating the basic programme theory and studying programme implementation, this evaluation serves as a starting point for future evaluations of the SDP.

Effect of Psychostimulants on Distinct Attentional Parameters in Attentional Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JAVIER LÓPEZ

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Although there is extensive literature about the effects of stimulants on sustained attention tasks in attentional deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, little is known about the effect of these drugs on other attentional tasks involving different neural systems. In this study we measured the effect of stimulants on ADHD children, both in the electroencephalographic (EEG activity during sustained attentional tasks and in psychometric performance during selective attentional tasks. These tasks are known to rely on different cortical networks. Our results in children medicated with 10 mg of d-amphetamine administered 60 min before the study indicate (i a significant increase in amplitude but not latency of the P300 component of the event-related potential (ERP during the sustained attentional task and (ii a significant improvement in the reaction times and correct responses in the selective attentional task. In addition to supporting the use of stimulants in children with attentional deficit/hyperactivity disorder, these results show a multifocal activity improvement of cortical structures linked to dopamine, and interestingly, to attention. All these analyses are framed in a wider study of diverse attentional functions in this syndrome.

A remote maintenance robot system for a pulsed nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thunborg, S.

1987-01-01

This paper presents a remote maintenance robot system for use in a hazardous environment. The system consists of turntable, robot and hoist subsystems which operate under the control of a supervisory computer to perform coordinated programmed maintenance operations on a pulsed nuclear reactor. The system is operational

76 FR 7239 - Proposed Privacy Act Systems of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-09

... property interests, identity theft or fraud, or harm to the security or integrity of this system or other... notice of a proposed system of records entitled, ``Treasury/DO .225 --TARP Fraud Investigation...: Supervisory Fraud Specialist, Office of Financial Stability, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC...

Federal supervisory powers in administrative action on behalf of the Federal Government. Bundesaufsicht in der Bundesauftragsverwaltung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tschentscher, T

1992-01-01

The Federal Government's authority to give instructions in matters of public administration pursuant to Art. 85 III GG has been gaining in significance over the last few years in the course of federal disputes about the licenses issued to the NUKEM company under atomic energy law, or about the licensing of the Kalkar fast breeder reactor. Proceeding from the above federal controversy about issues relating to atomic energy law, the author extends his study to the general constitutional level, investigating the provisions of the German constitution relating to the supervisory power and the authority to give instructions on the part of the Federal Government, and the rights and means of the Laender governments to defend their administrative rights. (orig.).

Systems and methods for an integrated electrical sub-system powered by wind energy

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yan [Ballston Lake, NY; Garces, Luis Jose [Niskayuna, NY

2008-06-24

Various embodiments relate to systems and methods related to an integrated electrically-powered sub-system and wind power system including a wind power source, an electrically-powered sub-system coupled to and at least partially powered by the wind power source, the electrically-powered sub-system being coupled to the wind power source through power converters, and a supervisory controller coupled to the wind power source and the electrically-powered sub-system to monitor and manage the integrated electrically-powered sub-system and wind power system.

A brain-computer interface based attention training program for treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Choon Guan Lim

Full Text Available Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD symptoms can be difficult to treat. We previously reported that a 20-session brain-computer interface (BCI attention training programme improved ADHD symptoms. Here, we investigated a new more intensive BCI-based attention training game system on 20 unmedicated ADHD children (16 males, 4 females with significant inattentive symptoms (combined and inattentive ADHD subtypes. This new system monitored attention through a head band with dry EEG sensors, which was used to drive a feed forward game. The system was calibrated for each user by measuring the EEG parameters during a Stroop task. Treatment consisted of an 8-week training comprising 24 sessions followed by 3 once-monthly booster training sessions. Following intervention, both parent-rated inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms on the ADHD Rating Scale showed significant improvement. At week 8, the mean improvement was -4.6 (5.9 and -4.7 (5.6 respectively for inattentive symptoms and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms (both p<0.01. Cohen's d effect size for inattentive symptoms was large at 0.78 at week 8 and 0.84 at week 24 (post-boosters. Further analysis showed that the change in the EEG based BCI ADHD severity measure correlated with the change ADHD Rating Scale scores. The BCI-based attention training game system is a potential new treatment for ADHD.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01344044.

Gestalt Principles for Attention and Segmentation in Natural and Artificial Vision Systems

OpenAIRE

Kootstra, Gert; Bergström, Niklas; Kragic, Danica

2011-01-01

Gestalt psychology studies how the human visual system organizes the complex visual input into unitary elements. In this paper we show how the Gestalt principles for perceptual grouping and for figure-ground segregation can be used in computer vision. A number of studies will be shown that demonstrate the applicability of Gestalt principles for the prediction of human visual attention and for the automatic detection and segmentation of unknown objects by a robotic system. QC 20111115 E...

[Attention system functions and their relationship with self-reported health in patients with brain damage due to tumor].

Science.gov (United States)

Egorov, V N; Razumnikova, O M; Perfil'ev, A M; Stupak, V V

2015-01-01

To compare parameters of attention in healthy people and patients with neoplasms in different regions of the cerebral cortex and to evaluate quality of life (QoL) indices with regard to impairment of different attention systems. Twenty patients with oncological lesions of the brain (mean age 56.5±8.8 years) who did not undergo surgery were studied. Tumor localization was confirmed using contrast-enhanced computed tomography, the tumor type was histologically verified. A control group included 18 healthy people matched for age, sex and education level. To determine attention system functions, we developed a computed version of the Attention Network Test. Error rate and reaction time for correct responses to the target stimulus, displayed along with neutral, congruent and incongruent signals, were the indicators of the efficacy of selective processes. QoL indices were assessed using SF-36 health survey questionnaire. The readiness to respond to incoming stimuli was mostly impaired in patients with brain tumors. Efficacy of executive attention, assessed as the increase in the number of errors in selection of visual stimuli, was decreased while temporary parameters of the functions of this system were not changed in patients compared to controls. The SF-36 total score was stable in patients with marked reduction in scores on the Role and Emotional Functioning scales. The most severe health impairment measured on the SF-36 scales of role/social emotional functioning and viability was recorded in patients with the lesions of frontal cortical areas compared to temporal/parietal areas. The relationship between SF-36 Health self-rating and attention systems was found. This finding puts the question of the importance of attention characteristics and QoL for survival prognosis of patients with brain tumors.

Investigation of crew performance in a multi-vehicle supervisory control task

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, R. A.; Plamondon, B. D.; Jagacinski, R. J.; Kirlik, A. C.

1986-01-01

Crew information processing and decision making in a supervisory control task which is loosely based on the mission of future generation helicopters is measured and represented. Subjects control the motion and activities of their own vehicle and direct the activities of four additional craft. The task involves searching an uncertain environment for cargo and enemies, returning cargo to home base and destroying enemies while attempting to avoid destruction of the scout and the supervised vehicles. A series of experiments with two-person crews and one-person crews were performed. Resulting crew performance was modeled with the objective of describing and understanding the information processing strategies utilized. Of particular interest are problem simplification strategies under time stress and high work load, simplification and compensation in the one-person cases, crew coordination in the two-person cases, and the relationship between strategy and errors in all cases. The results should provide some insight into the effective use of aids, particularly aids based on artificial intelligence, for similar tasks. The simulation is described which is used for the study and some preliminary results from the first two-person crew study are discussed.

Supervisory control for hybrid systems of electrical generation based on fuzzy logic; Control supervisorio para sistemas hibridos de generacion electrica basado en logica difusa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lagunas M, Javier; Ortega S, Cesar [Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas, Cuernavaca, Morelos (Mexico); Caratozzolo M, Patricia [Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, campus Cd. de Mexico (Mexico)

2005-07-01

The development and integration of hybrid systems of electrical generation (SHGE) of small capacity: The intention of these developments is its implementation in isolated or far away communities from conventional electric networks, that contribute in the own productive processes of these towns. As part of these work a system of control for their hybrid system wind-photovoltaic- internal combustion machine was developed that operates nowadays in a system installed in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. However, in the two past years, the GENC has worked, altogether with the Management of Control and Instrumentation of the Instituto de Investigaciones Electricas (IIE) and the Centro Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo Tecnologico (CENIDET) (National Center of Research and Technological Development), to incorporate an intelligent control technique in the regulation of the hybrid systems of wind-photovoltaic-machine of internal combustion type. Lemos de Pereira rises that the main problems of the present technology of the SHGE are related to the control and supervision of the power systems. The system that is in charge of the actions of load control and dispatch is denominated supervisory control. This controller supervises the operation of all the components, regulates the entry or exiting of operation of the generation systems, as well as the loads. [Spanish] El desarrollo e integracion de sistemas hibridos de generacion electrica (SHGE) de pequena capacidad. El proposito de estos desarrollos es su implementacion en comunidades aisladas o alejadas de la red electrica convencional, las cuales contribuyan en los procesos productivos propios de estos poblados. Como parte de dichos trabajos se desarrollo un sistema de control para su sistema hibrido eolico-fotovoltaico-maquina de combustion interna que opera actualmente en un sistema instalado en Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. Ahora bien, en los dos ultimos anos, la GENC ha trabajado, en conjunto con la Gerencia de Control e

A Short-Term Outage Model of Wind Turbines with Doubly Fed Induction Generators Based on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Sun

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a short-term wind turbine (WT outage model based on the data collected from a wind farm supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA system. Neural networks (NNs are used to establish prediction models of the WT condition parameters that are dependent on environmental conditions such as ambient temperature and wind speed. The prediction error distributions are discussed and used to calculate probabilities of the operation of protection relays (POPRs that were caused by the threshold exceedance of the environmentally sensitive parameters. The POPRs for other condition parameters are based on the setting time of the operation of protection relays. The union probability method is used to integrate the probabilities of operation of each protection relay to predict the WT short term outage probability. The proposed method has been used for real 1.5 MW WTs with doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs. The results show that the proposed method is more effective in WT outage probability prediction than traditional methods.

An Integrated Architecture for Grounded Intelligence in Its Development, Experimental, Environmental, and Social Context

Science.gov (United States)

2007-05-01

supervisory system lie core drives, such as hunger , boredom, attention-seeking, and other domain-specific drives (such as task success), modeled as scalar...the control of routing activities. Cognitive Neuropsychology , 17:297-338. [Davies and Stone, 1995] Davies, M. and Stone, T. (1995). Introduction. In...Thornton, I., J., P., and Shiffrar, M. (1998). The visual perception of human locomotion. Cognitive Neuropsychology , 15:535-552. [Wilson, 2001] Wilson

An Empirical Study of the Attention in the Interface of Learning Management System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Etcheverry

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This study aims to communicate the preliminary results of the Research taken forward by a UESiglo21 Research Group (Cordoba, Argentina. The same one focuses on the attention as cognitive process of renewed format, linked to the learning, from tools of the Platform Learning Management System (LMS, of two matters of the Bachelor in Computer Science and Software Engineering of the University. The methodological design applied is mixed, called DexPlis, of quantitative and qualitative phases. The quantitative preliminary phase has proved a differential performance of the attention according to support, text and video, from which limits are defined for the qualitative stage in order to interpret the motivations that all the statisticians sublie to, and at the same time, justify the renewed attentional format, framed in an imaginary social effect of the telematic environment, where learning is supported by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT.

29 CFR 785.43 - Medical attention.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Medical attention. 785.43 Section 785.43 Labor Regulations..., Medical Attention, Civic and Charitable Work, and Suggestion Systems § 785.43 Medical attention. Time spent by an employee in waiting for and receiving medical attention on the premises or at the direction...

Does sleep quality affect involuntary attention switching system?

Science.gov (United States)

Salmi, Juha; Huotilainen, Minna; Pakarinen, Satu; Siren, Teo; Alho, Kimmo; Aronen, Eeva T

2005-12-30

We studied the relationship between sleep quality and quantity and subsequently recorded automatically evoked event-related potential (ERP) responses. In previous studies decrement of attentional processing has been associated with changes in sleep. Sleep is shown to associate also with ERPs elicited by unattended sound stream, however, there is no consensus on these effects. A recent study suggested that the early anterior P3a to novel stimuli in attended stream is attenuated and the late parietal P3a is strengthened by total sleep deprivation. We carried out 72-h consecutive actigraphy measurements in a naturalistic setting to collect information about variation in sleep duration, sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency, and percentage of sleep. MMN and P3a deflections to infrequent changes in sound duration and pitch in unattended sound stream were obtained in a separate recording session from the same subjects when they were awake. No significant correlations were found between sleep and MMN parameters, indicating that MMN is resistant to normal variation in sleep. However, P3a to both pitch and duration changes correlated positively with sleep onset latency, and P3a to duration changes correlated negatively with sleep efficiency and percentage of sleep. The correlation was higher in the posterior scalp areas. Our results suggest that the involuntary attention switching system, reflected by the P3a is sensitized as a function of decreased sleep quality.

Integration of Sensor and Actuator Networks and the SCADA System to Promote the Migration of the Legacy Flexible Manufacturing System towards the Industry 4.0 Concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio José Calderón Godoy

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Networks of sensors and actuators in automated manufacturing processes are implemented using industrial fieldbuses, where automation units and supervisory systems are also connected to exchange operational information. In the context of the incoming fourth industrial revolution, called Industry 4.0, the management of legacy facilities is a paramount issue to deal with. This paper presents a solution to enhance the connectivity of a legacy Flexible Manufacturing System, which constitutes the first step in the adoption of the Industry 4.0 concept. Such a system includes the fieldbus PROcess FIeld BUS (PROFIBUS around which sensors, actuators, and controllers are interconnected. In order to establish effective communication between the sensors and actuators network and a supervisory system, a hardware and software approach including Ethernet connectivity is implemented. This work is envisioned to contribute to the migration of legacy systems towards the challenging Industry 4.0 framework. The experimental results prove the proper operation of the FMS and the feasibility of the proposal.

The Belief Systems of University Supervisors in an Elementary Student-Teaching Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeichner, Kenneth M.; Tabachnick, B. Robert

1982-01-01

A study was conducted to determine the range of supervisory belief systems that existed among nine university supervisors of elementary education student teachers. In interviews, three distinct belief systems emerged: (1) technical/instrumental; (2) personal growth centered; and (3) critical. (FG)

Explicit goal-driven attention, unlike implicitly learned attention, spreads to secondary tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Addleman, Douglas A; Tao, Jinyi; Remington, Roger W; Jiang, Yuhong V

2018-03-01

To what degree does spatial attention for one task spread to all stimuli in the attended region, regardless of task relevance? Most models imply that spatial attention acts through a unitary priority map in a task-general manner. We show that implicit learning, unlike endogenous spatial cuing, can bias spatial attention within one task without biasing attention to a spatially overlapping secondary task. Participants completed a visual search task superimposed on a background containing scenes, which they were told to encode for a later memory task. Experiments 1 and 2 used explicit instructions to bias spatial attention to one region for visual search; Experiment 3 used location probability cuing to implicitly bias spatial attention. In location probability cuing, a target appeared in one region more than others despite participants not being told of this. In all experiments, search performance was better in the cued region than in uncued regions. However, scene memory was better in the cued region only following endogenous guidance, not after implicit biasing of attention. These data support a dual-system view of top-down attention that dissociates goal-driven and implicitly learned attention. Goal-driven attention is task general, amplifying processing of a cued region across tasks, whereas implicit statistical learning is task-specific. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

76 FR 65535 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-21

... the FBI BRUs expressly as part of this system notice because the entire notice is being republished. While the FBI BRUs provide necessary flexibility in disseminating records from the system, FBI notes...: Elizabeth Withnell, Supervisory Attorney-Advisor, Privacy and Civil Liberties Unit, Office of the General...

Subjective evaluation of two stereoscopic imaging systems exploiting visual attention to improve 3D quality of experience

Science.gov (United States)

Hanhart, Philippe; Ebrahimi, Touradj

2014-03-01

Crosstalk and vergence-accommodation rivalry negatively impact the quality of experience (QoE) provided by stereoscopic displays. However, exploiting visual attention and adapting the 3D rendering process on the fly can reduce these drawbacks. In this paper, we propose and evaluate two different approaches that exploit visual attention to improve 3D QoE on stereoscopic displays: an offline system, which uses a saliency map to predict gaze position, and an online system, which uses a remote eye tracking system to measure real time gaze positions. The gaze points were used in conjunction with the disparity map to extract the disparity of the object-of-interest. Horizontal image translation was performed to bring the fixated object on the screen plane. The user preference between standard 3D mode and the two proposed systems was evaluated through a subjective evaluation. Results show that exploiting visual attention significantly improves image quality and visual comfort, with a slight advantage for real time gaze determination. Depth quality is also improved, but the difference is not significant.

Characterizing the effects of feature salience and top-down attention in the early visual system.

Science.gov (United States)

Poltoratski, Sonia; Ling, Sam; McCormack, Devin; Tong, Frank

2017-07-01

The visual system employs a sophisticated balance of attentional mechanisms: salient stimuli are prioritized for visual processing, yet observers can also ignore such stimuli when their goals require directing attention elsewhere. A powerful determinant of visual salience is local feature contrast: if a local region differs from its immediate surround along one or more feature dimensions, it will appear more salient. We used high-resolution functional MRI (fMRI) at 7T to characterize the modulatory effects of bottom-up salience and top-down voluntary attention within multiple sites along the early visual pathway, including visual areas V1-V4 and the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Observers viewed arrays of spatially distributed gratings, where one of the gratings immediately to the left or right of fixation differed from all other items in orientation or motion direction, making it salient. To investigate the effects of directed attention, observers were cued to attend to the grating to the left or right of fixation, which was either salient or nonsalient. Results revealed reliable additive effects of top-down attention and stimulus-driven salience throughout visual areas V1-hV4. In comparison, the LGN exhibited significant attentional enhancement but was not reliably modulated by orientation- or motion-defined salience. Our findings indicate that top-down effects of spatial attention can influence visual processing at the earliest possible site along the visual pathway, including the LGN, whereas the processing of orientation- and motion-driven salience primarily involves feature-selective interactions that take place in early cortical visual areas. NEW & NOTEWORTHY While spatial attention allows for specific, goal-driven enhancement of stimuli, salient items outside of the current focus of attention must also be prioritized. We used 7T fMRI to compare salience and spatial attentional enhancement along the early visual hierarchy. We report additive effects of

Cognitive Improvement of Attention and Inhibition in the Late Afternoon in Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Treated With Osmotic-Release Oral System Methylphenidate.

Science.gov (United States)

Slama, Hichem; Fery, Patrick; Verheulpen, Denis; Vanzeveren, Nathalie; Van Bogaert, Patrick

2015-07-01

Long-acting medications have been developed and approved for use in the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These compounds are intended to optimize and maintain symptoms control throughout the day. We tested prolonged effects of osmotic-release oral system methylphenidate on both attention and inhibition, in the late afternoon. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 36 boys (7-12 years) with ADHD and 40 typically developing children. The ADHD children received an individualized dose of placebo or osmotic-release oral system methylphenidate. They were tested about 8 hours after taking with 2 continuous performance tests (continuous performance test-X [CPT-X] and continuous performance test-AX [CPT-AX]) and a counting Stroop. A positive effect of osmotic-release oral system methylphenidate was present in CPT-AX with faster and less variable reaction times under osmotic-release oral system methylphenidate than under placebo, and no difference with typically developing children. In the counting Stroop, we found a decreased interference with osmotic-release oral system methylphenidate but no difference between children with ADHD under placebo and typically developing children. © The Author(s) 2014.

Pupil Size Tracks Attentional Performance In Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Wainstein, G; Rojas-Líbano, D; Crossley, N A; Carrasco, X; Aboitiz, F; Ossandón, T

2017-08-15

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis is based on reported symptoms, which carries the potential risk of over- or under-diagnosis. A biological marker that helps to objectively define the disorder, providing information about its pathophysiology, is needed. A promising marker of cognitive states in humans is pupil size, which reflects the activity of an 'arousal' network, related to the norepinephrine system. We monitored pupil size from ADHD and control subjects, during a visuo-spatial working memory task. A sub group of ADHD children performed the task twice, with and without methylphenidate, a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor. Off-medication patients showed a decreased pupil diameter during the task. This difference was no longer present when patients were on-medication. Pupil size correlated with the subjects' performance and reaction time variability, two vastly studied indicators of attention. Furthermore, this effect was modulated by medication. Through pupil size, we provide evidence of an involvement of the noradrenergic system during an attentional task. Our results suggest that pupil size could serve as a biomarker in ADHD.

Human-robot interaction modeling and simulation of supervisory control and situational awareness during field experimentation with military manned and unmanned ground vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Tony; Metcalfe, Jason; Brewster, Benjamin; Manteuffel, Christopher; Jaswa, Matthew; Tierney, Terrance

2010-04-01

The proliferation of intelligent systems in today's military demands increased focus on the optimization of human-robot interactions. Traditional studies in this domain involve large-scale field tests that require humans to operate semiautomated systems under varying conditions within military-relevant scenarios. However, provided that adequate constraints are employed, modeling and simulation can be a cost-effective alternative and supplement. The current presentation discusses a simulation effort that was executed in parallel with a field test with Soldiers operating military vehicles in an environment that represented key elements of the true operational context. In this study, "constructive" human operators were designed to represent average Soldiers executing supervisory control over an intelligent ground system. The constructive Soldiers were simulated performing the same tasks as those performed by real Soldiers during a directly analogous field test. Exercising the models in a high-fidelity virtual environment provided predictive results that represented actual performance in certain aspects, such as situational awareness, but diverged in others. These findings largely reflected the quality of modeling assumptions used to design behaviors and the quality of information available on which to articulate principles of operation. Ultimately, predictive analyses partially supported expectations, with deficiencies explicable via Soldier surveys, experimenter observations, and previously-identified knowledge gaps.

Introduction of Deterministic OS for SPLC in Advanced Nuclear I and C System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Son, C. W.; Kim, D. H.; Son, G. S. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2013-05-15

Existing PLC's either had no output logic with regard to devices' redundant structure or it was set in a fixed way, and as a result it was extremely inefficient to use them for redundant systems such as that of a nuclear power plant and their use was limited. This project has developed a real-time operating system with Redundancy handling logic in order to improve the problems mentioned. That is the scheduling method, redundancy handling function of supervisory. A controller used in Nuclear Power Plants safety system has been developed differently from industrial PLC by its design, production and test. Therefore, the operation system that controls the NPPs safety PLC should be developed properly so that it can work well on the handling logic of the safety system. Scoops has secured the deterministic for the safety PLC control by possessing the sequential scheduling, time management, redundancy handling logic and system diagnosis function considering the connectivity of all the software module by Supervisory.

The Premotor theory of attention: time to move on?

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Daniel T; Schenk, Thomas

2012-05-01

Spatial attention and eye-movements are tightly coupled, but the precise nature of this coupling is controversial. The influential but controversial Premotor theory of attention makes four specific predictions about the relationship between motor preparation and spatial attention. Firstly, spatial attention and motor preparation use the same neural substrates. Secondly, spatial attention is functionally equivalent to planning goal directed actions such as eye-movements (i.e. planning an action is both necessary and sufficient for a shift of spatial attention). Thirdly, planning a goal directed action with any effector system is sufficient to trigger a shift of spatial attention. Fourthly, the eye-movement system has a privileged role in orienting visual spatial attention. This article reviews empirical studies that have tested these predictions. Contrary to predictions one and two there is evidence of anatomical and functional dissociations between endogenous spatial attention and motor preparation. However, there is compelling evidence that exogenous attention is reliant on activation of the oculomotor system. With respect to the third prediction, there is correlational evidence that spatial attention is directed to the endpoint of goal-directed actions but no direct evidence that this attention shift is dependent on motor preparation. The few studies to have directly tested the fourth prediction have produced conflicting results, so the extent to which the oculomotor system has a privileged role in spatial attention remains unclear. Overall, the evidence is not consistent with the view that spatial attention is functionally equivalent to motor preparation so the Premotor theory should be rejected, although a limited version of the Premotor theory in which only exogenous attention is dependent on motor preparation may still be tenable. A plausible alternative account is that activity in the motor system contributes to biased competition between different sensory

Context-Dependent Control over Attentional Capture

Science.gov (United States)

Cosman, Joshua D.; Vecera, Shaun P.

2013-01-01

A number of studies have demonstrated that the likelihood of a salient item capturing attention is dependent on the "attentional set" an individual employs in a given situation. The instantiation of an attentional set is often viewed as a strategic, voluntary process, relying on working memory systems that represent immediate task…

Giving Eyesight to the Blind: Towards Attention-Aware AIED

Science.gov (United States)

D'Mello, Sidney K.

2016-01-01

There is an inextricable link between attention and learning, yet AIED systems in 2015 are largely blind to learners' attentional states. We argue that next-generation AIED systems should have the ability to monitor and dynamically (re)direct attention in order to optimize allocation of sparse attentional resources. We present some initial ideas…

Supervising System Stress in Multiple Markets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikhail V. Oet

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper develops an extended financial stress measure that considers the supervisory objective of identifying risks to the stability of the financial system. The measure provides a continuous and bounded signal of financial stress using daily public market data. Broad coverage of material financial system markets over time is achieved by leveraging dynamic credit weights. We consider how this measure can be used to monitor, analyze, and alert financial system stress.

SCADA system vulnerabilities to cyber attack

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaw, W. T. [Cyber Security Consulting (Canada)

2004-10-01

The susceptibility to terrorist attacks of computer-based supervisory control (SCADA) systems that are used to monitor and control water distribution systems, oil and gas pipelines and the electrical grid, is discussed. The discussion includes ways in which SCADA systems may be attacked and remedial actions that may be taken to reduce or eliminate the possibility of such attacks. Attacks may take the form of causing the system to generate false data to divert attention from impending system disasters, or commandeer the system to seriously disable it, or cause damage to the process or equipment being controlled by sending improper control commands. SCADA systems are also vulnerable to internal threats, either from an accidental action that results in damage, or an intentional action, as for example by a disgruntled employee, or ex-employee, usually by way of reprogramming an RTU or PLC by accessing the polling/communications circuit. Recent SCADA systems are much more susceptible to concerted cyber attacks because of the adoption of IT technologies and standards into the design of such systems. (Older systems are more likely to be unique designs, hence less susceptible to attack). As far as protection of SCADA systems is concerned, there are no technologies that would prevent a technologically sophisticated terrorist or disgruntled employee from doing major damage to the system, however, the IT world has developed a range of technologies for the protection of IT assets, and many of these same technologies can also be used to safeguard modern SCADA systems.

Combinatorial Hybrid Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jesper Abildgaard; Wisniewski, Rafal; Grunnet, Jacob Deleuran

2008-01-01

indicates for a given face the future simplex. In the suggested definition we allow nondeterminacy in form of splitting and merging of solution trajectories. The combinatorial vector field gives rise to combinatorial counterparts of most concepts from dynamical systems, such as duals to vector fields, flow......, flow lines, fixed points and Lyapunov functions. Finally it will be shown how this theory extends to switched dynamical systems and an algorithmic overview of how to do supervisory control will be shown towards the end....

The ATF [Advanced Toroidal Facility] Status and Control System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baylor, L.R.; Devan, W.R.; Sumner, J.N.; Alban, A.M.

1987-01-01

The Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) Status and Control System (SCS) is a programmable controller-based state monitoring and supervisory control system. This paper describes the SCS implementation and its use of a host computer to run a commercially available software package that provides color graphic interactive displays, alarm logging, and archiving of state data

A new open GKS-based supervision system in use at GANIL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lecorche, E.

1990-01-01

Since the beginning of 1989, a new supervision system has been added to the GANIL control system in order to get a better view of data handled by programmable controllers. This supervisory system has been designed around software named IMAGIN, provided by the French company Sferca. IMAGIN runs on VAX/VMS workstations and its graphic capabilities are based on the GKS IIc standard. It consists of software modules, including a graphic editor and a 'configurer' used to create dynamic objects associated with external variables. The real-time display achieved by an 'animator' process is synchronized with user software programs by means of mailboxes. This gives the whole system the capability of meeting any specific requirement. Moreover, this supervisory system is capable of controlling the programmable controllers as well as any processor which can be reached from the workstations. This paper describes the main features of IMAGIN software and then emphasizes some implementations which have been carried out at GANIL, to supervise either the programmable controllers or the existing control system. (orig.)

An Interactive Attention Board: Improving the Attention of Individuals with Autism and Mental Retardation

Science.gov (United States)

Sahin, Yasar Guneri; Cimen, Fatih Mehmet

2011-01-01

This paper presents a tool named "Interactive Attention Board" (IAB) and an associated software named "Interactive Attention Boards Software" (IABS) for individuals with Mental Retardation and Autism. The proposed system is based on several theories such as perception and learning theories, and it is intended to improve hand-eye coordination and…

Control of discrete-event systems with modular or distributed structure

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Komenda, Jan; van Schuppen, J. H.

2007-01-01

Roč. 388, č. 3 (2007), s. 199-226 ISSN 0304-3975 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) KJB100190609 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : supervisory control * modular discrete-event system * distributed discrete-event system Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.735, year: 2007

Attention to Attention

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tække, Jesper; Paulsen, Michael Eric

In these years digital media and wireless networks are introduced in upper secondary schools in Denmark. This implies new “attentional objects” like updates on Facebook or tweets on Twitter within instant reach of the pupils and teachers. Also it implies new kinds of attention (awareness) like when...... pupils try to listen to the teacher and simultaneously participate in online games. To this new social setting the teachers has reacted with either prohibition or unconcern. What has not been realised is that the introduction of new media profoundly challenges the way attention hitherto has functioned...... as a psychic prerequisite for the social interaction between pupils and teachers. New kinds of “split attention” arise and new kinds of social mediation (regulation and “use”) of psychic attention become necessary if teaching in the new digital medium milieu shall be beneficial. In this paper we qualify...

75 FR 7651 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-22

... Service Candidate Development programs, Ethics, Professional Development Plans, Supervisory Training, Open... [cir] Professional Assessment surveys such as Executive Career Field Candidate/Mentor questionnaires... the system: Storage: Records are maintained on the HPDM1 Server and backup server in Little Rock...

Modeling Supermarket Refrigeration Systems for Supervisory Control in Smart Grid

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2013-01-01

A modular modeling approach of supermarket refrigeration systems (SRS) which is appropriate for smart grid control purposes is presented in this paper. Modeling and identification are performed by just knowing the system configuration and measured data disregarding the physical details. So...

Attracting the attention of a fly

OpenAIRE

Sareen, Preeti; Wolf, Reinhard; Heisenberg, Martin

2011-01-01

Organisms with complex visual systems rarely respond to just the sum of all visual stimuli impinging on their eyes. Often, they restrict their responses to stimuli in a temporarily selected region of the visual field (selective visual attention). Here, we investigate visual attention in the fly Drosophila during tethered flight at a torque meter. Flies can actively shift their attention; however, their attention can be guided to a certain location by external cues. Using visual cues, we can d...

Toward risk assessment 2.0: Safety supervisory control and model-based hazard monitoring for risk-informed safety interventions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Favarò, Francesca M.; Saleh, Joseph H.

2016-01-01

Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) is a staple in the engineering risk community, and it has become to some extent synonymous with the entire quantitative risk assessment undertaking. Limitations of PRA continue to occupy researchers, and workarounds are often proposed. After a brief review of this literature, we propose to address some of PRA's limitations by developing a novel framework and analytical tools for model-based system safety, or safety supervisory control, to guide safety interventions and support a dynamic approach to risk assessment and accident prevention. Our work shifts the emphasis from the pervading probabilistic mindset in risk assessment toward the notions of danger indices and hazard temporal contingency. The framework and tools here developed are grounded in Control Theory and make use of the state-space formalism in modeling dynamical systems. We show that the use of state variables enables the definition of metrics for accident escalation, termed hazard levels or danger indices, which measure the “proximity” of the system state to adverse events, and we illustrate the development of such indices. Monitoring of the hazard levels provides diagnostic information to support both on-line and off-line safety interventions. For example, we show how the application of the proposed tools to a rejected takeoff scenario provides new insight to support pilots’ go/no-go decisions. Furthermore, we augment the traditional state-space equations with a hazard equation and use the latter to estimate the times at which critical thresholds for the hazard level are (b)reached. This estimation process provides important prognostic information and produces a proxy for a time-to-accident metric or advance notice for an impending adverse event. The ability to estimate these two hazard coordinates, danger index and time-to-accident, offers many possibilities for informing system control strategies and improving accident prevention and risk mitigation

Integration of supervisory control synthesis in model-based systems engineering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baeten, J.C.M.; Mortel - Fronczak, van de J.M.; Rooda, J.E.

2011-01-01

Due to increasing system complexity, time-to-market and development costs reduction, there are higher demands on engineering processes. Model-based engineering can play a role here because it supports system development by enabling the use of various model-based analysis techniques and tools. As a

Data displays for multi-detector monitoring systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, R.C.M.

1978-03-01

Extensive installations of sensors are used for environmental surveillance of radiological hazards, fire, etc. The data from such arrays of detectors can be collected by data processing systems which generate appropriate supervisory displays and records. This paper reviews facilities and physical configurations of computer-based display systems, with particular reference to radiological protection schemes. The general principles are relevant to other fields of application. (author)

Date base management system for the MFTF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choy, J.H.; Wade, J.A.

1979-01-01

The data base management system (DBMS) for the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) is described as relational in nature and distributed across the nine computers of the supervisory control and diagnostics system. This paper deals with a reentrant runtime package of routines that are used to access data items, the data structures to support the runtime package, and some of the utilities in support of the DBMS

Development and evaluation of an automated system for testing current meters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ezequiel Saretta

2016-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Current meters are equipment widely used for estimating flow velocity in rivers and streams. Periodic calibrations of current meters are important to ensure the quality of measurements, but the required testing facilities are complex and only available in a few institutions. However, advances in electronics and automation may contribute to developing simple and reliable calibration systems. Thus, this study aimed to develop an automated system for testing current meters, which consisted of a trapezoidal channel, a step motor, a tow car and a management system, composed of a supervisory application and microprocessed modules to control the motor and the data acquisition. Evaluations of the displacement velocity showed that it matched the reference value up to 1.85 m s-1 for a vertical-axis current meter and 2.3 m s-1 for a horizontal-axis one. The developed system showed reliability during tests, for both current meter movement and data acquisition. The management of the system based on the developed modules and the supervisory application improved its user interface, turning all the procedure into a simple task.

Emotional modulation of attention: fear increases but disgust reduces the attentional blink.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolas Vermeulen

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: It is well known that facial expressions represent important social cues. In humans expressing facial emotion, fear may be configured to maximize sensory exposure (e.g., increases visual input whereas disgust can reduce sensory exposure (e.g., decreases visual input. To investigate whether such effects also extend to the attentional system, we used the "attentional blink" (AB paradigm. Many studies have documented that the second target (T2 of a pair is typically missed when presented within a time window of about 200-500 ms from the first to-be-detected target (T1; i.e., the AB effect. It has recently been proposed that the AB effect depends on the efficiency of a gating system which facilitates the entrance of relevant input into working memory, while inhibiting irrelevant input. Following the inhibitory response on post T1 distractors, prolonged inhibition of the subsequent T2 is observed. In the present study, we hypothesized that processing facial expressions of emotion would influence this attentional gating. Fearful faces would increase but disgust faces would decrease inhibition of the second target. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We showed that processing fearful versus disgust faces has different effects on these attentional processes. We found that processing fear faces impaired the detection of T2 to a greater extent than did the processing disgust faces. This finding implies emotion-specific modulation of attention. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Based on the recent literature on attention, our finding suggests that processing fear-related stimuli exerts greater inhibitory responses on distractors relative to processing disgust-related stimuli. This finding is of particular interest for researchers examining the influence of emotional processing on attention and memory in both clinical and normal populations. For example, future research could extend upon the current study to examine whether inhibitory processes invoked by

Supervisory Management in the Water/Wastewater Field: Self-Study Program. Revised Second Edition. Instructor Manual. Executive Programs of the Graduate School of Business Administration of Michigan State University.

Science.gov (United States)

Liebrenz, Marilyn L., Ed.

This document is the instructor's manual for a course on supervisory management as it relates to the water or wastewater treatment field. Each of the seven modules is concerned with a segment of the management/supervision process and corresponds to reading material in an accompanying text. An objective and subjective test portion is included with…

When are attention and saccade preparation dissociated?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belopolsky, A.V.; Theeuwes, J.

2009-01-01

To understand the mechanisms of visual attention, it is crucial to know the relationship between attention and saccades. Some theories propose a close relationship, whereas others view the attention and saccade systems as completely independent. One possible way to resolve this controversy is to

Modular Control of Discrete-Event Systems with Coalgebra

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Komenda, Jan; van Schuppen, J. H.

2008-01-01

Roč. 53, č. 2 (2008), s. 447-460 ISSN 0018-9286 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) KJB100190609 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : discrete-event systems * modular supervisory control * coalgebra Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 3.293, year: 2008

SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION IMPAIRS ATTENTION AND COGNITIVE FLEXIBILITY BUT NOT ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING IN AGED RATS: Possible Implications for Delirium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deborah J Culley

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Delirium is a common and morbid condition in elderly hospitalized patients. Its pathophysiology is poorly understood but inflammation has been implicated based on a clinical association with systemic infection and surgery and preclinical data showing that systemic inflammation adversely affects hippocampus-dependent memory. However, clinical manifestations and imaging studies point to abnormalities not in the hippocampus but in cortical circuits. We therefore tested the hypothesis that systemic inflammation impairs prefrontal cortex function by assessing attention and executive function in aged animals. Aged (24-month-old Fischer-344 rats received a single intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 50 ug/kg or saline and were tested on the attentional shifting task (AST, an index of integrity of the prefrontal cortex, on days 1-3 post-injection. Plasma and frontal cortex concentrations of the cytokine TNFα and the chemokine CCL2 were measured by ELISA in separate groups of identically treated, age-matched rats. LPS selectively impaired reversal learning and attentional shifts without affecting discrimination learning in the AST, indicating a deficit in attention and cognitive flexibility but not learning globally. LPS increased plasma TNFα and CCL2 acutely but this resolved within 24-48 h. TNFα in the frontal cortex did not change whereas CCL2 increased nearly 3-fold 2 h after LPS but normalized by the time behavioral testing started 24 h later. Together, our data indicate that systemic inflammation selectively impairs attention and executive function in aged rodents and that the cognitive deficit is independent of concurrent changes in frontal cortical TNFα and CCL2. Because inattention is a prominent feature of clinical delirium, our data support a role for inflammation in the pathogenesis of this clinical syndrome and suggest this animal model could be useful for studying that relationship further.

A National Study on the Development of Visual Attention Using the Cognitive Assessment System

Science.gov (United States)

Lehman, Elyse Brauch; Naglieri, Jack A.; Aquilino, Sally A.

2010-01-01

Objective: Developmental changes in the performance of children and adolescents are studied using the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) which is an individually administered test of 4 basic cognitive processes. Method: The test measures the Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive (PASS) processes as a theory of intelligence that can…

Detection of contamination of municipal water distribution systems

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, John F [Oakland, CA

2012-01-17

A system for the detection of contaminates of a fluid in a conduit. The conduit is part of a fluid distribution system. A chemical or biological sensor array is connected to the conduit. The sensor array produces an acoustic signal burst in the fluid upon detection of contaminates in the fluid. A supervisory control system connected to the fluid and operatively connected to the fluid distribution system signals the fluid distribution system upon detection of contaminates in the fluid.

Challenge-driven attention: interacting frontal and brainstem systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajeev D S Raizada

2008-03-01

Full Text Available The world is an unpredictable place, presenting challenges that fl uctuate from moment to moment. However, the neural systems for responding to such challenges are far from fully understood. Using fMRI, we studied an audiovisual task in which the trials' diffi culty and onset times varied unpredictably. Two regions were found to increase their activation for challenging trials, with their activities strongly correlated: right frontal cortex and the brainstem. The frontal area matched regions found in previous human studies of cognitive control, and activated in a graded manner with increasing task diffi culty. The brainstem responded only to the most diffi cult trials, showing a phasic activity pattern paralleling locus coeruleus recordings in monkeys. These results reveal a bridge between animal and human studies, and suggest interacting roles for the brainstem and right frontal cortex: the brainstem may signal that an attentional challenge is occurring, while right frontal cortex allocates cognitive resources in response.

Formal validation of supervisory energy management systems for microgrids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sugumar, Gayathri; Selvamuthukumaran, R.; Dragicevic, T.

2017-01-01

techniques are available in the literature to monitor and control the energy flows among distributed RES in MGs, formal verification of those techniques was not proposed yet. The emphasis of this paper is to design and validate energy management system for a MG which consists of a solar photovoltaic (PV...

Power system SCADA and smart grids

CERN Document Server

Thomas, Mini S

2015-01-01

Power System SCADA and Smart Grids brings together in one concise volume the fundamentals and possible application functions of power system supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). The text begins by providing an overview of SCADA systems, evolution, and use in power systems and the data acquisition process. It then describes the components of SCADA systems, from the legacy remote terminal units (RTUs) to the latest intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), data concentrators, and master stations, as well as:Examines the building and practical implementation of different SCADA systemsOf

National Ignition Facility integrated computer control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Arsdall, P.J. LLNL

1998-01-01

The NIF design team is developing the Integrated Computer Control System (ICCS), which is based on an object-oriented software framework applicable to event-driven control systems. The framework provides an open, extensible architecture that is sufficiently abstract to construct future mission-critical control systems. The ICCS will become operational when the first 8 out of 192 beams are activated in mid 2000. The ICCS consists of 300 front-end processors attached to 60,000 control points coordinated by a supervisory system. Computers running either Solaris or VxWorks are networked over a hybrid configuration of switched fast Ethernet and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). ATM carries digital motion video from sensors to operator consoles. Supervisory software is constructed by extending the reusable framework components for each specific application. The framework incorporates services for database persistence, system configuration, graphical user interface, status monitoring, event logging, scripting language, alert management, and access control. More than twenty collaborating software applications are derived from the common framework. The framework is interoperable among different kinds of computers and functions as a plug-in software bus by leveraging a common object request brokering architecture (CORBA). CORBA transparently distributes the software objects across the network. Because of the pivotal role played, CORBA was tested to ensure adequate performance

A Ship Propulsion System Model for Fault-tolerant Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Izadi-Zamanabadi, Roozbeh; Blanke, M.

This report presents a propulsion system model for a low speed marine vehicle, which can be used as a test benchmark for Fault-Tolerant Control purposes. The benchmark serves the purpose of offering realistic and challenging problems relevant in both FDI and (autonomous) supervisory control area...

Attention and predictions: control of spatial attention beyond the endogenous-exogenous dichotomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emiliano eMacaluso

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The mechanisms of attention control have been extensively studied with a variety of methodologies in animals and in humans. Human studies using non-invasive imaging techniques highlighted a remarkable difference between the pattern of responses in dorsal fronto-parietal regions vs. ventral fronto-parietal regions, primarily lateralized to the right hemisphere. Initially, this distinction at the neuro-physiological level has been related to the distinction between cognitive processes associated with strategic/endogenous vs. stimulus-driven/exogenous of attention control. Nonetheless, quite soon it has become evident that, in almost any situation, attention control entails a complex combination of factors related to both the current sensory input and endogenous aspects associated with the experimental context. Here, we review several of these aspects first discussing the joint contribution of endogenous and stimulus-driven factors during spatial orienting in complex environments and, then, turning to the role of expectations and predictions in spatial re-orienting. We emphasize that strategic factors play a pivotal role for the activation of the ventral system during stimulus-driven control, and that the dorsal system makes use of stimulus-driven signals for top-down control. We conclude that both the dorsal and the ventral fronto-parietal networks integrate endogenous and exogenous signals during spatial attention control and that future investigations should manipulate both these factors concurrently, so as to reveal to full extent of these interactions.

Attention and predictions: control of spatial attention beyond the endogenous-exogenous dichotomy

Science.gov (United States)

Macaluso, Emiliano; Doricchi, Fabrizio

2013-01-01

The mechanisms of attention control have been extensively studied with a variety of methodologies in animals and in humans. Human studies using non-invasive imaging techniques highlighted a remarkable difference between the pattern of responses in dorsal fronto-parietal regions vs. ventral fronto-parietal (vFP) regions, primarily lateralized to the right hemisphere. Initially, this distinction at the neuro-physiological level has been related to the distinction between cognitive processes associated with strategic/endogenous vs. stimulus-driven/exogenous of attention control. Nonetheless, quite soon it has become evident that, in almost any situation, attention control entails a complex combination of factors related to both the current sensory input and endogenous aspects associated with the experimental context. Here, we review several of these aspects first discussing the joint contribution of endogenous and stimulus-driven factors during spatial orienting in complex environments and, then, turning to the role of expectations and predictions in spatial re-orienting. We emphasize that strategic factors play a pivotal role for the activation of the ventral system during stimulus-driven control, and that the dorsal system makes use of stimulus-driven signals for top-down control. We conclude that both the dorsal and the vFP networks integrate endogenous and exogenous signals during spatial attention control and that future investigations should manipulate both these factors concurrently, so as to reveal to full extent of these interactions. PMID:24155707

Attention and predictions: control of spatial attention beyond the endogenous-exogenous dichotomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Macaluso, Emiliano; Doricchi, Fabrizio

2013-01-01

The mechanisms of attention control have been extensively studied with a variety of methodologies in animals and in humans. Human studies using non-invasive imaging techniques highlighted a remarkable difference between the pattern of responses in dorsal fronto-parietal regions vs. ventral fronto-parietal (vFP) regions, primarily lateralized to the right hemisphere. Initially, this distinction at the neuro-physiological level has been related to the distinction between cognitive processes associated with strategic/endogenous vs. stimulus-driven/exogenous of attention control. Nonetheless, quite soon it has become evident that, in almost any situation, attention control entails a complex combination of factors related to both the current sensory input and endogenous aspects associated with the experimental context. Here, we review several of these aspects first discussing the joint contribution of endogenous and stimulus-driven factors during spatial orienting in complex environments and, then, turning to the role of expectations and predictions in spatial re-orienting. We emphasize that strategic factors play a pivotal role for the activation of the ventral system during stimulus-driven control, and that the dorsal system makes use of stimulus-driven signals for top-down control. We conclude that both the dorsal and the vFP networks integrate endogenous and exogenous signals during spatial attention control and that future investigations should manipulate both these factors concurrently, so as to reveal to full extent of these interactions.

How motivation and reward learning modulate selective attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourgeois, A; Chelazzi, L; Vuilleumier, P

2016-01-01

Motivational stimuli such as rewards elicit adaptive responses and influence various cognitive functions. Notably, increasing evidence suggests that stimuli with particular motivational values can strongly shape perception and attention. These effects resemble both selective top-down and stimulus-driven attentional orienting, as they depend on internal states but arise without conscious will, yet they seem to reflect attentional systems that are functionally and anatomically distinct from those classically associated with frontoparietal cortical networks in the brain. Recent research in human and nonhuman primates has begun to reveal how reward can bias attentional selection, and where within the cognitive system the signals providing attentional priority are generated. This review aims at describing the different mechanisms sustaining motivational attention, their impact on different behavioral tasks, and current knowledge concerning the neural networks governing the integration of motivational influences on attentional behavior. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Novel Supervisory Control Algorithm to Improve the Performance of a Real-Time PV Power-Hardware-In-Loop Simulator with Non-RTDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dae-Jin Kim

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A programmable direct current (DC power supply with Real-time Digital Simulator (RTDS-based photovoltaic (PV Power Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL simulators has been used to improve the control algorithm and reliability of a PV inverter. This paper proposes a supervisory control algorithm for a PV PHIL simulator with a non-RTDS device that is an alternative solution to a high-cost PHIL simulator. However, when such a simulator with the conventional algorithm which is used in an RTDS is connected to a PV inverter, the output is in the transient state and it makes it impossible to evaluate the performance of the PV inverter. Therefore, the proposed algorithm controls the voltage and current target values according to constant voltage (CV and constant current (CC modes to overcome the limitation of the Computing Unit and DC power supply, and it also uses a multi-rate system to account for the characteristics of each component of the simulator. A mathematical model of a PV system, programmable DC power supply, isolated DC measurement device, and Computing Unit are integrated to form a real-time processing simulator. Performance tests are carried out with a commercial PV inverter and prove the superiority of this proposed algorithm against the conventional algorithm.

The impact of acute psychosocial stress on magnetoencephalographic correlates of emotional attention and exogenous visual attention.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ludger Elling

Full Text Available Stress-induced acute activation of the cerebral catecholaminergic systems has often been found in rodents. However, little is known regarding the consequences of this activation on higher cognitive functions in humans. Theoretical inferences would suggest increased distractibility in the sense of increased exogenous attention and emotional attention. The present study investigated the influence of acute stress responses on magnetoencephalographic (MEG correlates of visual attention. Healthy male subjects were presented emotional and neutral pictures in three subsequent MEG recording sessions after being exposed to a TSST-like social stressor, intended to trigger a HPA-response. The subjects anticipation of another follow-up stressor was designed to sustain the short-lived central catecholaminergic stress reactions throughout the ongoing MEG recordings. The heart rate indicates a stable level of anticipatory stress during this time span, subsequent cortisol concentrations and self-report measures of stress were increased. With regard to the MEG correlates of attentional functions, we found that the N1m amplitude remained constantly elevated during stressor anticipation. The magnetic early posterior negativity (EPNm was present but, surprisingly, was not at all modulated during stressor anticipation. This suggests that a general increase of the influence of exogenous attention but no specific effect regarding emotional attention in this time interval. Regarding the time course of the effects, an influence of the HPA on these MEG correlates of attention seems less likely. An influence of cerebral catecholaminergic systems is plausible, but not definite.

The impact of acute psychosocial stress on magnetoencephalographic correlates of emotional attention and exogenous visual attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Elling, Ludger; Schupp, Harald; Bayer, Janine; Bröckelmann, Ann-Kathrin; Steinberg, Christian; Dobel, Christian; Junghofer, Markus

2012-01-01

Stress-induced acute activation of the cerebral catecholaminergic systems has often been found in rodents. However, little is known regarding the consequences of this activation on higher cognitive functions in humans. Theoretical inferences would suggest increased distractibility in the sense of increased exogenous attention and emotional attention. The present study investigated the influence of acute stress responses on magnetoencephalographic (MEG) correlates of visual attention. Healthy male subjects were presented emotional and neutral pictures in three subsequent MEG recording sessions after being exposed to a TSST-like social stressor, intended to trigger a HPA-response. The subjects anticipation of another follow-up stressor was designed to sustain the short-lived central catecholaminergic stress reactions throughout the ongoing MEG recordings. The heart rate indicates a stable level of anticipatory stress during this time span, subsequent cortisol concentrations and self-report measures of stress were increased. With regard to the MEG correlates of attentional functions, we found that the N1m amplitude remained constantly elevated during stressor anticipation. The magnetic early posterior negativity (EPNm) was present but, surprisingly, was not at all modulated during stressor anticipation. This suggests that a general increase of the influence of exogenous attention but no specific effect regarding emotional attention in this time interval. Regarding the time course of the effects, an influence of the HPA on these MEG correlates of attention seems less likely. An influence of cerebral catecholaminergic systems is plausible, but not definite.

Active fault tolerant control of piecewise affine systems with reference tracking and input constraints

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gholami, M.; Cocquempot, V.; Schiøler, H.

2014-01-01

An active fault tolerant control (AFTC) method is proposed for discrete-time piecewise affine (PWA) systems. Only actuator faults are considered. The AFTC framework contains a supervisory scheme, which selects a suitable controller in a set of controllers such that the stability and an acceptable...... performance of the faulty system are held. The design of the supervisory scheme is not considered here. The set of controllers is composed of a normal controller for the fault-free case, an active fault detection and isolation controller for isolation and identification of the faults, and a set of passive...... fault tolerant controllers (PFTCs) modules designed to be robust against a set of actuator faults. In this research, the piecewise nonlinear model is approximated by a PWA system. The PFTCs are state feedback laws. Each one is robust against a fixed set of actuator faults and is able to track...

Device configuration-management system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nowell, D.M.

1981-01-01

The Fusion Chamber System, a major component of the Magnetic Fusion Test Facility, contains several hundred devices which report status to the Supervisory Control and Diagnostic System for control and monitoring purposes. To manage the large number of diversity of devices represented, a device configuration management system was required and developed. Key components of this software tool include the MFTF Data Base; a configuration editor; and a tree structure defining the relationships between the subsystem devices. This paper will describe how the configuration system easily accomodates recognizing new devices, restructuring existing devices, and modifying device profile information

Automated visual attention manipulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosse, T.; Lambalgen, R. van; Maanen, P.P. van; Treur, J.

2009-01-01

In this paper a system for visual attention manipulation is introduced and formally described. This system is part of the design of a software agent that supports naval crew in her task to compile a tactical picture of the situation in the field. A case study is described in hich the system is used

Prefrontal control of attention to threat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polly V Peers

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Attentional control refers to the regulatory processes that ensure that our actions are in accordance with our goals. Dual-system accounts view temperament as consisting of both individual variation in emotionality (e.g. trait anxiety and variation in regulatory attentional mechanisms that act to modulate emotionality. Increasing evidence links trait variation in attentional control to clinical mood and anxiety disorder symptoms, independent of trait emotionality. Attentional biases to threat have been robustly linked to mood and anxiety disorders. However, the role of variation in attentional control in influencing such biases, and the neural underpinnings of trait variation in attentional control, are unknown. Here, we show, that individual differences in trait attentional control, even when accounting for trait and state anxiety, are related to the magnitude of an attentional blink following threat-related targets. Moreover, we demonstrate that activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, is observed specifically in relation to control of attention over threatening stimuli, in line with neural theories of attentional control, such as guided activation theory. These results have key implications for neurocognitive theories of attentional bias and emotional resilience.

IMIS, an integrated measuring and information system for environmental radioactivity monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dornstetter, P.; Sell, J.; Schumacher, H.; Helms, D.

1989-01-01

The IMIS project system consists of a nationwide information network of interlinked data processing systems installed at 38 regional measuring stations, 11 regional data collecting centres, 5 key stations of the Federal German measuring network, 7 supervisory stations on Federal level, of the BMU, BMVg, and one central Federal office. The systems are equipped with VAX computers using the Ultric operating system and the ORACLE data base system. (DG) [de

Attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Callahan, Patrick M; Terry, Alvin V

2015-01-01

The ability to focus one's attention on important environmental stimuli while ignoring irrelevant stimuli is fundamental to human cognition and intellectual function. Attention is inextricably linked to perception, learning and memory, and executive function; however, it is often impaired in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Accordingly, attention is considered as an important therapeutic target in these disorders. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the most common behavioral paradigms of attention that have been used in animals (particularly rodents) and to review the literature where these tasks have been employed to elucidate neurobiological substrates of attention as well as to evaluate novel pharmacological agents for their potential as treatments for disorders of attention. These paradigms include two tasks of sustained attention that were developed as rodent analogues of the human Continuous Performance Task (CPT), the Five-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task (5-CSRTT) and the more recently introduced Five-Choice Continuous Performance Task (5C-CPT), and the Signal Detection Task (SDT) which was designed to emphasize temporal components of attention.

Active glass-type human augmented cognition system considering attention and intention

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Bumhwi; Ojha, Amitash; Lee, Minho

2015-10-01

Human cognition is the result of an interaction of several complex cognitive processes with limited capabilities. Therefore, the primary objective of human cognitive augmentation is to assist and expand these limited human cognitive capabilities independently or together. In this study, we propose a glass-type human augmented cognition system, which attempts to actively assist human memory functions by providing relevant, necessary and intended information by constantly assessing intention of the user. To achieve this, we exploit selective attention and intention processes. Although the system can be used in various real-life scenarios, we test the performance of the system in a person identity scenario. To detect the intended face, the system analyses the gaze points and change in pupil size to determine the intention of the user. An assessment of the gaze points and change in pupil size together indicates that the user intends to know the identity and information about the person in question. Then, the system retrieves several clues through speech recognition system and retrieves relevant information about the face, which is finally displayed through head-mounted display. We present the performance of several components of the system. Our results show that the active and relevant assistance based on users' intention significantly helps the enhancement of memory functions.

Supervisor localization a top-down approach to distributed control of discrete-event systems

CERN Document Server

Cai, Kai

2016-01-01

This monograph presents a systematic top-down approach to distributed control synthesis of discrete-event systems (DES). The approach is called supervisor localization; its essence is the allocation of external supervisory control action to individual component agents as their internal control strategies. The procedure is: first synthesize a monolithic supervisor, to achieve globally optimal and nonblocking controlled behavior, then decompose the monolithic supervisor into local controllers, one for each agent. The collective behavior of the resulting local controllers is identical to that achieved by the monolithic supervisor. The basic localization theory is first presented in the Ramadge–Wonham language-based supervisory control framework, then demonstrated with distributed control examples of multi-robot formations, manufacturing systems, and distributed algorithms. An architectural approach is adopted to apply localization to large-scale DES; this yields a heterarchical localization procedure, which is...

The ergonomics of command and control

OpenAIRE

Stanton, NA; Baber, C

2006-01-01

Since its inception, just after the Second World War, ergonomics research has paid special attention to the issues surrounding human control of systems. Command and Control environments continue to represent a challenging domain for Ergonomics research. We take a broad view of Command and Control research, to include C2 (Command and Control), C3 (Command, Control and Communication), and C4 (Command, Control, Communication and Computers) as well as human supervisory control paradigms. This spe...

Waves, currents and sediment transport modelling at the Wave Hub site

OpenAIRE

Gonzalez-Santamaria, Raul

2013-01-01

Primary supervisory team: Qingping Zou and Shunqi Pan This research project uses an integrated modelling system to investigate the effects of a wave farm on nearshore sediment transport at the Wave Hub site. The Wave Hub project is a large scale demonstration site for the development of the operation of arrays of wave energy generation devices located at the southwest coast of the UK where multiple field measurements took place. Particular attention of this study was paid to th...

Social responsibility and SOE restructuring

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

沈志渔; 刘兴国; 周小虎

2009-01-01

SOE social responsibility has undergone three stages of evolution.In essence,corporate social responsibility includes social obligations and social expectations.Public attention to SOE social responsibility issues has affected the thinking surrounding SOE restructuring,including the promulgating of objectives and methods.Based on corporate social responsibility,SOE managers must set up a perfect SOE social responsibility system and strengthen supervisory mechanisms;in respect to corporate governance models,SOEs should undertake reform for the corporate citizen governance model.

Hierarchical fuzzy control of low-energy building systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Zhen; Dexter, Arthur [Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PJ (United Kingdom)

2010-04-15

A hierarchical fuzzy supervisory controller is described that is capable of optimizing the operation of a low-energy building, which uses solar energy to heat and cool its interior spaces. The highest level fuzzy rules choose the most appropriate set of lower level rules according to the weather and occupancy information; the second level fuzzy rules determine an optimal energy profile and the overall modes of operation of the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system (HVAC); the third level fuzzy rules select the mode of operation of specific equipment, and assign schedules to the local controllers so that the optimal energy profile can be achieved in the most efficient way. Computer simulation is used to compare the hierarchical fuzzy control scheme with a supervisory control scheme based on expert rules. The performance is evaluated by comparing the energy consumption and thermal comfort. (author)

Multiple Flow Loop SCADA System Implemented on the Production Prototype Loop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baily, Scott A. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Dalmas, Dale Allen [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Wheat, Robert Mitchell [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Woloshun, Keith Albert [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Dale, Gregory E. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2015-11-16

The following report covers FY 15 activities to develop supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for the Northstar Moly99 production prototype gas flow loop. The goal of this effort is to expand the existing system to include a second flow loop with a larger production-sized blower. Besides testing the larger blower, this system will demonstrate the scalability of our solution to multiple flow loops.

Attention: oscillations and neuropharmacology.

Science.gov (United States)

Deco, Gustavo; Thiele, Alexander

2009-08-01

Attention is a rich psychological and neurobiological construct that influences almost all aspects of cognitive behaviour. It enables enhanced processing of behaviourally relevant stimuli at the expense of irrelevant stimuli. At the cellular level, rhythmic synchronization at local and long-range spatial scales complements the attention-induced firing rate changes of neurons. The former is hypothesized to enable efficient communication between neuronal ensembles tuned to spatial and featural aspects of the attended stimulus. Recent modelling studies suggest that the rhythmic synchronization in the gamma range may be mediated by a fine balance between N-methyl-D-aspartate and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate postsynaptic currents, whereas other studies have highlighted the possible contribution of the neuromodulator acetylcholine. This review summarizes some recent modelling and experimental studies investigating mechanisms of attention in sensory areas and discusses possibilities of how glutamatergic and cholinergic systems could contribute to increased processing abilities at the cellular and network level during states of top-down attention.

Paying attention through eye movements: a computational investigation of the premotor theory of spatial attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Casarotti, Marco; Lisi, Matteo; Umiltà, Carlo; Zorzi, Marco

2012-07-01

Growing evidence indicates that planning eye movements and orienting visuospatial attention share overlapping brain mechanisms. A tight link between endogenous attention and eye movements is maintained by the premotor theory, in contrast to other accounts that postulate the existence of specific attention mechanisms that modulate the activity of information processing systems. The strong assumption of equivalence between attention and eye movements, however, is challenged by demonstrations that human observers are able to keep attention on a specific location while moving the eyes elsewhere. Here we investigate whether a recurrent model of saccadic planning can account for attentional effects without requiring additional or specific mechanisms separate from the circuits that perform sensorimotor transformations for eye movements. The model builds on the basis function approach and includes a circuit that performs spatial remapping using an "internal forward model" of how visual inputs are modified as a result of saccadic movements. Simulations show that the latter circuit is crucial to account for dissociations between attention and eye movements that may be invoked to disprove the premotor theory. The model provides new insights into how spatial remapping may be implemented in parietal cortex and offers a computational framework for recent proposals that link visual stability with remapping of attention pointers.

A SCADA System for Energy Management in Intelligent Buildings

OpenAIRE

Figueiredo, Joao; Sá da Costa, Jose

2012-01-01

This paper develops an energy management platform for intelligent buildings using a SCADA system (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition). This SCADA system integrates different types of information coming from the several technologies present in modern buildings (control of ventilation, temperature, illumination, etc.). The developed control strategy implements an hierarchical cascade controller where inner loops are performed by local PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller), and the outer...

Automation trust and attention allocation in multitasking workspace.

Science.gov (United States)

Karpinsky, Nicole D; Chancey, Eric T; Palmer, Dakota B; Yamani, Yusuke

2018-07-01

Previous research suggests that operators with high workload can distrust and then poorly monitor automation, which has been generally inferred from automation dependence behaviors. To test automation monitoring more directly, the current study measured operators' visual attention allocation, workload, and trust toward imperfect automation in a dynamic multitasking environment. Participants concurrently performed a manual tracking task with two levels of difficulty and a system monitoring task assisted by an unreliable signaling system. Eye movement data indicate that operators allocate less visual attention to monitor automation when the tracking task is more difficult. Participants reported reduced levels of trust toward the signaling system when the tracking task demanded more focused visual attention. Analyses revealed that trust mediated the relationship between the load of the tracking task and attention allocation in Experiment 1, an effect that was not replicated in Experiment 2. Results imply a complex process underlying task load, visual attention allocation, and automation trust during multitasking. Automation designers should consider operators' task load in multitasking workspaces to avoid reduced automation monitoring and distrust toward imperfect signaling systems. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Separate individual control systems come together at EP2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Podmore, A.

1991-01-01

At BNFL's EP2 radioactive waste encapsulation plant in the UK, eight area supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADAs) and one central SCADA are being installed to provide computer-controlled processing of waste drums. The individual systems are all autonomous, minimizing the effect they have on other areas of the process. At the same time, they are part of an integrated system which provides effective communication between the various areas. (author)

Altered intrinsic organisation of brain networks implicated in attentional processes in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a resting-state study of attention, default mode and salience network connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sidlauskaite, Justina; Sonuga-Barke, Edmund; Roeyers, Herbert; Wiersema, Jan R

2016-06-01

Deficits in task-related attentional engagement in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been hypothesised to be due to altered interrelationships between attention, default mode and salience networks. We examined the intrinsic connectivity during rest within and between these networks. Six-minute resting-state scans were obtained. Using a network-based approach, connectivity within and between the dorsal and ventral attention, the default mode and the salience networks was compared between the ADHD and control group. The ADHD group displayed hyperconnectivity between the two attention networks and within the default mode and ventral attention network. The salience network was hypoconnected to the dorsal attention network. There were trends towards hyperconnectivity within the dorsal attention network and between the salience and ventral attention network in ADHD. Connectivity within and between other networks was unrelated to ADHD. Our findings highlight the altered connectivity within and between attention networks, and between them and the salience network in ADHD. One hypothesis to be tested in future studies is that individuals with ADHD are affected by an imbalance between ventral and dorsal attention systems with the former playing a dominant role during task engagement, making individuals with ADHD highly susceptible to distraction by salient task-irrelevant stimuli.

Choice reaching with a LEGO arm robot (CoRLEGO): The motor system guides visual attention to movement-relevant information.

Science.gov (United States)

Strauss, Soeren; Woodgate, Philip J W; Sami, Saber A; Heinke, Dietmar

2015-12-01

We present an extension of a neurobiologically inspired robotics model, termed CoRLEGO (Choice reaching with a LEGO arm robot). CoRLEGO models experimental evidence from choice reaching tasks (CRT). In a CRT participants are asked to rapidly reach and touch an item presented on the screen. These experiments show that non-target items can divert the reaching movement away from the ideal trajectory to the target item. This is seen as evidence attentional selection of reaching targets can leak into the motor system. Using competitive target selection and topological representations of motor parameters (dynamic neural fields) CoRLEGO is able to mimic this leakage effect. Furthermore if the reaching target is determined by its colour oddity (i.e. a green square among red squares or vice versa), the reaching trajectories become straighter with repetitions of the target colour (colour streaks). This colour priming effect can also be modelled with CoRLEGO. The paper also presents an extension of CoRLEGO. This extension mimics findings that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the motor cortex modulates the colour priming effect (Woodgate et al., 2015). The results with the new CoRLEGO suggest that feedback connections from the motor system to the brain's attentional system (parietal cortex) guide visual attention to extract movement-relevant information (i.e. colour) from visual stimuli. This paper adds to growing evidence that there is a close interaction between the motor system and the attention system. This evidence contradicts the traditional conceptualization of the motor system as the endpoint of a serial chain of processing stages. At the end of the paper we discuss CoRLEGO's predictions and also lessons for neurobiologically inspired robotics emerging from this work. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stroop color-word interference and electroencephalogram activation: evidence for age-related decline of the anterior attention system.

Science.gov (United States)

West, R; Bell, M A

1997-07-01

Groups of healthy, community-dwelling younger and older adults performed a Stroop task in which color and word could be congruent or incongruent and spatially integrated or separated. During the task, continuous electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from frontal, parietal, and occipital regions. The magnitude of the Stroop interference effect and task-related EEG activation was greater for older than younger adults when stimuli were integrated. This effect was significant over medial and lateral frontal and parietal, but not occipital, regions. In comparison, interference and EEG activation did not differ for younger and older adults when stimuli were separated. These findings support the hypothesis that the anterior attention system is more sensitive to the effects of increasing age than the posterior attention system.

The corporate governance in Uzbekistan: A special focus on the board’s supervisory role compared with German practice

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Zufar Ashurov

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Today, the topic of corporate governance has become vital for the most researches and scientific controversies. The corporate governance is now playing a key role in economic and social development of a country, and it has began to significantly matter for both industrialized and most of the developing countries. In the meantime, little is known for the world community about the state and problems of corporate governance in Uzbekistan. In this regard, in this paper we mainly address the present situation in Uzbek corporate governance as well as, as a special focus, make comparison of the Uzbek and German board’s supervisory role practices. This paper may be interesting for those who are not aware of the corporate governance in Uzbekistan and who would like to more or less know about it.

Extremely Selective Attention: Eye-Tracking Studies of the Dynamic Allocation of Attention to Stimulus Features in Categorization

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Blair, Mark R.; Watson, Marcus R.; Walshe, R. Calen; Maj, Fillip

2009-01-01

Humans have an extremely flexible ability to categorize regularities in their environment, in part because of attentional systems that allow them to focus on important perceptual information. In formal theories of categorization, attention is typically modeled with weights that selectively bias the processing of stimulus features. These theories…

Attention-like processes in insects.

Science.gov (United States)

Nityananda, Vivek

2016-11-16

Attention is fundamentally important for sensory systems to focus on behaviourally relevant stimuli. It has therefore been an important field of study in human psychology and neuroscience. Primates, however, are not the only animals that might benefit from attention-like processes. Other animals, including insects, also have to use their senses and select one among many stimuli to forage, avoid predators and find mates. They have evolved different mechanisms to reduce the information processed by their brains to focus on only relevant stimuli. What are the mechanisms used by insects to selectively attend to visual and auditory stimuli? Do these attention-like mechanisms achieve the same functions as they do in primates? To investigate these questions, I use an established framework for investigating attention in non-human animals that proposes four fundamental components of attention: salience filters, competitive selection, top-down sensitivity control and working memory. I discuss evidence for each of these component processes in insects and compare the characteristics of these processes in insects to what we know from primates. Finally, I highlight important outstanding questions about insect attention that need to be addressed for us to understand the differences and similarities between vertebrate and insect attention. © 2016 The Author(s).

Serotonergic and dopaminergic modulation of attentional processes.

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Boulougouris, Vasileios; Tsaltas, Eleftheria

2008-01-01

Disturbances in attentional processes are a common feature of several psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and Huntington's disease. The use of animal models has been useful in defining various candidate neural systems thus enabling us to translate basic laboratory science to the clinic and vice-versa. In this chapter, a comparative and integrated account is provided on the neuroanatomical and neurochemical modulation of basic behavioural operations such as selective attention, vigilance, set-shifting and executive control focusing on the comparative functions of the serotonin and dopamine systems in the cognitive control exerted by the prefrontal cortex. Specifically, we have reviewed evidence emerging from several behavioural paradigms in experimental animals and humans each of which centres on a different aspect of the attentional function. These paradigms offering both human and animal variants include the five-choice serial reaction time task (5CSRTT), attentional set-shifting and stop-signal reaction time task. In each case, the types of operation that are measured by the given paradigm and their neural correlates are defined. Then, the role of the ascending dopaminergic and serotonergic systems in the neurochemical modulation of its behavioural output are examined, and reference is made to clinical implications for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders which exhibit deficits in these cognitive tests.

Music Recommendation System for Human Attention Modulation by Facial Recognition on a driving task: A Proof of Concept

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Avila-Vázquez Roberto

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The role of music on driving process had been discussed in the context of driver assistance as an element of security and comfort. Throughout this document, we present the development of an audio recommender system for the use by drivers, based on facial expression analysis. This recommendation system has the objective of increasing the attention of the driver by the election of specific music pieces. For this pilot study, we start presenting an introduction to audio recommender systems and a brief explanation of the function of our facial expression analysis system. During the driving course the subjects (seven participants between 19 and 25 years old are stimulated with a chosen group of audio compositions and their facial expressions are captured via a camera mounted in the car's dashboard. Once the videos were captured and recollected, we proceeded to analyse them using the FACET™ module of the biometric capture platform iMotions™. This software provides us with the expression analysis of the subjects. Analysed data is postprocessed and the data obtained were modelled on a quadratic surface that was optimized based on the known cestrum and tempo of the songs and the average evidence of emotion. The results showed very different optimal points for each subject, that indicates different type of music for optimizing driving attention. This work is a first step for obtaining a music recommendation system capable to modulate subject attention while driving.

Service line structure and decision-maker attention in three health systems: Implications for patient-centered care.

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Louis, Christopher J; Clark, Jonathan R; Gray, Barbara; Brannon, Diane; Parker, Victoria

2017-06-15

Scholars have noted a disconnect between the level at which structure is typically examined (the organization) and the level at which the relevant coordination takes place (service delivery). Accordingly, our understanding of the role structure plays in care coordination is limited. In this article, we explore service line structure, with an aim of advancing our understanding of the role service line structure plays in producing coordinated, patient-centered care. We do so by giving special attention to the cognitive roots of patient-centeredness. Our exploratory study relied on comparative case studies of the breast cancer service lines in three health systems. Nonprobability discriminative snowball sampling was used to identify the final sample of key informants. We employed a grounded approach to analyzing and interpreting the data. We found substantial variation across the three service lines in terms of their structure. We also found corresponding variation across the three case sites in terms of where informant attention was primarily focused in the process of coordinating care. Drawing on the attention-based view of the firm, our results draw a clear connection between structural characteristics and the dominant focus of attention (operational tactics, provider roles and relationships, or patient needs and engagement) in health care service lines. Our exploratory results suggest that service line structures influence attention in two ways: (a) by regulating the type and intensity of the problems facing service line participants and (b) by encouraging (or discouraging) a shared purpose around patient needs. Patient-centered attention-a precursor to coordinated, patient-centered care-depends on the internal choices organizations make around service line structure. Moreover, a key task for organizational and service line leaders is to structure service lines to create a context that minimizes distractions and enables care providers to focus their attention on

Attention to memory: orienting attention to sound object representations.

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Backer, Kristina C; Alain, Claude

2014-01-01

Despite a growing acceptance that attention and memory interact, and that attention can be focused on an active internal mental representation (i.e., reflective attention), there has been a paucity of work focusing on reflective attention to 'sound objects' (i.e., mental representations of actual sound sources in the environment). Further research on the dynamic interactions between auditory attention and memory, as well as its degree of neuroplasticity, is important for understanding how sound objects are represented, maintained, and accessed in the brain. This knowledge can then guide the development of training programs to help individuals with attention and memory problems. This review article focuses on attention to memory with an emphasis on behavioral and neuroimaging studies that have begun to explore the mechanisms that mediate reflective attentional orienting in vision and more recently, in audition. Reflective attention refers to situations in which attention is oriented toward internal representations rather than focused on external stimuli. We propose four general principles underlying attention to short-term memory. Furthermore, we suggest that mechanisms involved in orienting attention to visual object representations may also apply for orienting attention to sound object representations.

Dealing with the vulnerability of the Italian banking system

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Elisabetta Montanaro

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The major vulnerabilities of the Italian banking system are the overhang of NPLs and low profitability. Differently from the attention given to excesses of NPLs, the profitability problem is normally considered to be a matter to be left to bank management and not an area of explicit direct regulatory action. Although focusing on capital requirements, regulators and supervisors seldom pose the question of where capital comes from. Using a large sample of 410 Italian domestic banking groups and individual banks, we propose an NPL stress test and a viability test that show: that the system’s vulnerability is a widespread phenomenon; that a further recapitalisation of around ten billion euro is necessary; and that, more importantly, limiting interventions to the overhang problem does not put the majority of Italian banks into a viability path due to the inefficiencies coming from their current business models. The analysis of the Italian case strengthens the critique of current regulation and supervision because, not focusing on bank profitability, they do not avoid threats on solvency coming from the accumulation of NPLs. We thus argue that the structural changes necessary to put the Italian banking system into a viable path require new regulatory and supervisory approaches.

Slow cortical potential and theta/beta neurofeedback training in adults: effects on attentional processes, and motor system excitability

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Petra eStuder

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Neurofeedback (NF is being successfully applied, among others, in children with ADHD and as a peak performance training in healthy subjects. However, the neuronal mechanisms mediating a successful NF training have not yet been sufficiently uncovered for both theta/beta (T/B, and slow cortical potential (SCP training, two protocols established in NF in ADHD. In the present randomized controlled investigation in adults without a clinical diagnosis (n = 59, the specificity of the effects of these two NF protocols on attentional processes, and motor system excitability were to be examined, focusing on the underlying neuronal mechanisms. NF training consisted of 10 double sessions, and self-regulation skills were analyzed. Pre- and post-training assessments encompassed performance and event-related potential measures during an attention task, and motor system excitability assessed by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Some NF protocol specific effects have been obtained. However, due to the limited sample size medium effects didn’t reach the level of significance. Self-regulation abilities during negativity trials of the SCP training were associated with increased contingent negative variation amplitudes, indicating improved resource allocation during cognitive preparation. Theta/beta training was associated with increased response speed and decreased target-P3 amplitudes after successful theta/beta regulation suggested reduced attentional resources necessary for stimulus evaluation. Motor system excitability effects after theta/beta training paralleled the effects of methylphenidate. Overall, our results are limited by the non-sufficiently acquired self-regulation skills, but some specific effects between good and poor learners could be described. Future studies with larger sample sizes and sufficient acquisition of self-regulation skills are needed to further evaluate the protocol specific effects on attention and motor system excitability

An Integrative, Cognitive-Behavioral, Systemic Approach to Working with Students Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Shillingford, Margaret Ann; Lambie, Glenn W.; Walter, Sara Meghan

2007-01-01

Attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent diagnostic disorder for many students, which correlates with negative academic, social, and personal consequences. This article presents an integrative, cognitive-behavioral, systemic approach that offers behaviorally based interventions for professional school counselors to support…

Handbook of SCADA/control systems security

CERN Document Server

Radvanovsky, Robert

2013-01-01

The availability and security of many services we rely upon-including water treatment, electricity, healthcare, transportation, and financial transactions-are routinely put at risk by cyber threats. The Handbook of SCADA/Control Systems Security is a fundamental outline of security concepts, methodologies, and relevant information pertaining to the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and technology that quietly operate in the background of critical utility and industrial facilities worldwide. Divided into five sections, the book examines topics comprising functions within

The Committee System for Competitive Bids in Local Government

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P Bolton

2009-07-01

Full Text Available When a municipality contracts for goods or services, it must make use of competitive bidding / a public call for tenders for contracts over R200 000 as well as for long term contracts. A competitive bidding process generally consists of different stages, for example, compiling bid specifications, advertising the bid, the receipt and evaluation of bids, and the award and implementation of the contract. The Municipal Supply Chain Management Regulations require a municipality’s Supply Chain Management Policy to provide for a committee system to oversee the different stages. Such committee system must, moreover, consist of at least a bid specification committee, a bid evaluation committee and a bid adjudication committee. Until recently, little attention has been given by the courts to the roles and composition of the different committees in the committee system. It is only after government, and in particular, municipalities have begun to implement the committee system in their procurement processes that it is evident that problems are arising. In recent months, the courts have increasingly had to deal with issues pertaining to the implementation of the committee system.In this article, the relevant legislative provisions on the committee system for competitive bids in local government are discussed. The functions of each committee are explained and all the cases that have thus far involved the implementation of the committee system are critically analysed. Much attention is given to the cases since they serve as a warning to municipalities to uphold and comply with the rules relating to the roles and composition of the different committees. The cases illustrate how important it is for municipalities to ensure that the different committees are properly constituted and that decisions at meetings are properly taken. They also highlight the importance of the supervisory role of the municipal manager over the different committees. In light of the

Cognitive programs: Software for attention's executive

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John K Tsotsos

2014-11-01

Full Text Available What are the computational tasks that an executive controller for visual attention must solve? This question is posed in the context of the Selective Tuning model of attention. The range of required computations go beyond top-down bias signals or region-of-interest determinations, and must deal with overt and covert fixations, process timing and synchronization, information routing, memory, matching control to task, spatial localization, priming, and coordination of bottom-up with top-down information. During task execution, results must be monitored to ensure the expected results. This description includes the kinds of elements that are common in the control of any kind of complex machine or system. We seek a mechanistic integration of the above, in other words, algorithms that accomplish control. Such algorithms operate on representations, transforming a representation of one kind into another, which then forms the input to yet another algorithm. Cognitive Programs (CPs are hypothesized to capture exactly such representational transformations via stepwise sequences of operations. CPs, an updated and modernized offspring of Ullman's Visual Routines, impose an algorithmic structure to the set of attentional functions and play a role in the overall shaping of attentional modulation of the visual system so that it provides its best performance. This requires that we consider the visual system as a dynamic, yet general-purpose processor tuned to the task and input of the moment. This differs dramatically from the almost universal cognitive and computational views, which regard vision as a passively observing module to which simple questions about percepts can be posed, regardless of task. Differing from Visual Routines, CPs explicitly involve the critical elements of Visual Task Executive, Visual Attention Executive, and Visual Working Memory. Cognitive Programs provide the software that directs the actions of the Selective Tuning model of visual

Review: Attention and Memory in Autism

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Arash Mirab-Zadeh

2001-12-01

Full Text Available Many investigations have documented about attentional and memorial abnormality in individuals with autism. This study is summary of recent researches about alternations of attention and memory in autism. The most important changes of attention in autism are: 1 Arousal modulatory system dysfunction, leading to fluctuations between states over and under arousal. 2 Reduction of orienting and processing of novel stimuli. 3 Over focused attention, responding to only a subset of environmental cues. 4 Deficit in shifting attention, leading to difficulty moving their attention from one special location to another. The most important changes of memory in autism are: 1 Good rote memory 2 Cued recall is significantly better than free recall 3 Deficit in working memory 4 Deficit in implicit and explicit memory 5 Deficit in verbal memory about material that requires further encoding, organization or use of meaning or semantic cues for recalling 6 High functioning memory in some of the patients for example ability to read well, singing or recognizing musical pieces

Dynamic informational system for control and monitoring the tritium removal pilot plant with data transfer and process analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Retevoi, Carmen Maria; Stefan, Iuliana; Balteanu, Ovidiu; Stefan, Liviu

2005-01-01

The dynamic informational system with datalogging and supervisory control module includes a motion control module and is a new conception used in tritium removal installation with isotopic exchange and cryogenic distillation. The control system includes an event-driven engine that maintains a real-time database, logs historical data, processes alarm information, and communicates with I/O devices. Also, it displays the operator interfaces and performs tasks that are defined for advanced control algorithms, supervisory control, analysis, and display with data transfer from data acquisition room to the control room. By using the parameters, we compute the deuterium and tritium concentration, respectively, of the liquid at the inlet of the isotopic exchange column and, consequently, we can compute at the outlet of the column, the tritium concentration in the water vapors. (authors)

AN APPLICATION EXAMPLE ; FAULT DIAGNOSIS IN POWER SYSTEM

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Özgür COŞAR

2003-02-01

Full Text Available There are a lot of protective devices in electrical transmission and distribution systems which are monitored and data are collected from these devices via Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA. distribution systems are more complicated when compared with transmission systems. However, SCADA is not available in most distribution systems where phones from the customers are used as alarms. In the cases where SCADA is not available experiences of the dispatchers and the information from customers becomes important. In this work a user friendly software is developed for even unexperienced dispatchers.

Instrumentation and control of turbine, generator and associated systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogtland, U.

1982-01-01

The purpose of this presentation is to give some information on Instrumentation and Control (I and C) for turbine-generators, in this case for nuclear application. The I and C scope of supply for such a turbine-generator can be divided as follows: - Closed-loop controls - Turbine stress control systems - Supervisory instrumentation - Protection systems - Open-loop controls. The main systems used for nuclear application are presented by means of examples taken from these a.m. categories. (orig./RW)

Prefrontal contributions to visual selective attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Squire, Ryan F; Noudoost, Behrad; Schafer, Robert J; Moore, Tirin

2013-07-08

The faculty of attention endows us with the capacity to process important sensory information selectively while disregarding information that is potentially distracting. Much of our understanding of the neural circuitry underlying this fundamental cognitive function comes from neurophysiological studies within the visual modality. Past evidence suggests that a principal function of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is selective attention and that this function involves the modulation of sensory signals within posterior cortices. In this review, we discuss recent progress in identifying the specific prefrontal circuits controlling visual attention and its neural correlates within the primate visual system. In addition, we examine the persisting challenge of precisely defining how behavior should be affected when attentional function is lost.

Neural Mechanisms of Selective Visual Attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Tirin; Zirnsak, Marc

2017-01-03

Selective visual attention describes the tendency of visual processing to be confined largely to stimuli that are relevant to behavior. It is among the most fundamental of cognitive functions, particularly in humans and other primates for whom vision is the dominant sense. We review recent progress in identifying the neural mechanisms of selective visual attention. We discuss evidence from studies of different varieties of selective attention and examine how these varieties alter the processing of stimuli by neurons within the visual system, current knowledge of their causal basis, and methods for assessing attentional dysfunctions. In addition, we identify some key questions that remain in identifying the neural mechanisms that give rise to the selective processing of visual information.

Long-term culture change related to rapid response system implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Jennifer; Johansson, Anna; Lennes, Inga; Hsu, Douglas; Tess, Anjala; Howell, Michael

2014-12-01

Increasing attention to patient safety in training hospitals may come at the expense of trainee autonomy and professional growth. This study sought to examine changes in medical trainees' self-reported behaviour after the institution-wide implementation of a rapid response system. We conducted a two-point cross-sectional survey of medical trainees in 2006, during the implementation of a rapid response system, and in 2010, in a single academic medical centre. A novel instrument was used to measure trainee likelihood of calling for supervisory assistance, perception of autonomy, and comfort in managing decompensating patients. Non-parametric tests to assess for change were used and year of training was evaluated as an effect modifier. Response rates were 38% in 2006 and 70% in 2010. After 5 years of the full implementation of the rapid response system, residents were significantly more likely to report calling their attending physicians for assistance (rising from 40% to 65% of relevant situations; p autonomy at 5 years after the implementation of the rapid response system. These changes were mirrored in the actual use of the rapid response system, which increased by 41% during the 5-year period after adjustment for patient volume (p < 0.0001). A primary team-focused implementation of a rapid response system was associated with durable changes in resident physicians' reported behaviour, including increased comfort with involving more experienced physicians and managing unstable patients. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sustained selective attention predicts flexible switching in preschoolers.

Science.gov (United States)

Benitez, Viridiana L; Vales, Catarina; Hanania, Rima; Smith, Linda B

2017-04-01

Stability and flexibility are fundamental to an intelligent cognitive system. Here, we examined the relationship between stability in selective attention and explicit control of flexible attention. Preschoolers were tested on the Dimension Preference (DP) task, which measures the stability of selective attention to an implicitly primed dimension, and the Dimension Change Card Sort (DCCS) task, which measures flexible attention switching between dimensions. Children who successfully switched on the DCCS task were more likely than those who perseverated to sustain attention to the primed dimension on the DP task across trials. We propose that perseverators have less stable attention and distribute their attention between dimensions, whereas switchers can successfully stabilize attention to individual dimensions and, thus, show more enduring priming effects. Flexible attention may emerge, in part, from implicit processes that stabilize attention even in tasks not requiring switching. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attentional Lapses of Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Tasks of Sustained Attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Gmehlin, Dennis; Fuermaier, Anselm B M; Walther, Stephan; Tucha, Lara; Koerts, Janneke; Lange, Klaus W; Tucha, Oliver; Weisbrod, Matthias; Aschenbrenner, Steffen

2016-06-01

Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show attentional dysfunction such as distractibility and mind-wandering, especially in lengthy tasks. However, fundamentals of dysfunction are ambiguous and relationships of neuropsychological test parameters with self-report measures of ADHD symptoms are marginal. We hypothesize that basic deficits in sustaining attention explain more complex attentional dysfunction in persons with ADHD and relate to ADHD symptoms. Attentional function was analyzed by computing ex-Gaussian parameters for 3 time Blocks in a 20 min test of sustained alertness. Changes in performance across these blocks were analyzed by comparing adult persons with ADHD (n = 24) with healthy matched controls (n = 24) and correlated with neuropsychological measures of selective and divided attention as well as self-report measures of ADHD symptoms. We found a significantly steeper increase in the number of slow responses (ex-Gaussian parameter τ) in persons with ADHD with time on task in basic sustained alertness. They also performed significantly worse in tasks of sustained selective and divided attention. However, after controlling for an increase in τ during the alertness task, significant differences between groups disappeared for divided and partly selective attention. Increases in τ in the sustained alertness task correlated significantly with self-report measures of ADHD symptoms. Our results provide evidence that very basic deficits in sustaining attention in adults with ADHD are related to infrequent slow responses (=attentional lapses), with changes over time being relevant for more complex attentional function and experienced ADHD symptoms in everyday life. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Integration of supervisory control synthesis in model-based systems engineering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baeten, J.C.M.; van de Mortel - Fronczak, J.M.; Rooda, J.E.

2016-01-01

Increasing system complexity, time to market and development costs reduction place higher demands on engineering processes. Formal models play an important role here because they enable the use of various model-based analyses and early integration techniques and tools. Engineering processes based on

Hacker tracking Security system for HMI

Science.gov (United States)

Chauhan, Rajeev Kumar

2011-12-01

Conventional Supervisory control and data Acquisition (SCADA) systems use PC, notebook, thin client, and PDA as a Client. Nowadays the Process Industries are following multi shift system that's why multi- client of different category have to work at a single human Machine Interface (HMI). They may hack the HMI Display and change setting of the other client. This paper introduces a Hacker tracking security (HTS) System for HMI. This is developed by using the conventional and Biometric authentication. HTS system is developed by using Numeric passwords, Smart card, biometric, blood flow and Finger temperature. This work is also able to identify the hackers.

On the role of attention and emotion in morality: attentional control modulates unrelated disgust in moral judgments.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Dillen, Lotte F; van der Wal, Reine C; van den Bos, Kees

2012-09-01

The emotion of disgust can influence people's moral judgments, even if this emotion objectively is unrelated to the moral judgment in question. The present work demonstrates that attentional control regulates this effect. In three studies, disgust was induced. In an unrelated part of the studies, participants then judged a moral transgression. Disgust resulted in more severe moral judgments when attentional control (either measured by means of individual predisposition or manipulated with experimental control) was weak as opposed to strong (Studies 1-3). Findings further showed that attentional control mediated the positive relation between the intensity of participants' disgust responses and the severity of their moral judgments (Study 2). Moreover, attentional control has its effects through the regulation of affective processing (Study 3). Taken together, the findings suggest that unrelated influences of disgust on moral judgments are contingent on the attention system.

Attentional Push: Augmenting Salience with Shared Attention Modeling

OpenAIRE

Gorji, Siavash; Clark, James J.

2016-01-01

We present a novel visual attention tracking technique based on Shared Attention modeling. Our proposed method models the viewer as a participant in the activity occurring in the scene. We go beyond image salience and instead of only computing the power of an image region to pull attention to it, we also consider the strength with which other regions of the image push attention to the region in question. We use the term Attentional Push to refer to the power of image regions to direct and man...

Attentional profiles and white matter correlates in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder predominantly inattentive type

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Suzart Ungaretti Rossi

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD is a widely studied neurodevelopmental disorder. It is a highly heterogeneous condition, encompassing different types of expression. The predominantly inattentive type is the most prevalent and the most stable over the lifetime, yet it is the least-studied presentation. To increase understanding of its cognitive profile, 29 children with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder of predominantly inattentive type (ADHD-I and 29 matched controls, aged 7 to 15 years, had their attentional abilities assessed through the Conners’ Continuous Performance Test. Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected for all of the participants using a 3.0 Tesla MRI system. Fractional anisotropy values were obtained for 20 fibre tracts, and brain-behaviour correlations were calculated for 42 of the children. The ADHD-I children differed significantly from the typically developing children with respect to attentional measures, such as the ability to maintain response-time consistency throughout the task (Hit RT SE and Variability, vigilance (Hit RT ISI and Hit RT ISI SE, processing speed (Hit RT, selective attention (Omissions, sustained attention (Hit RT Block Change, error profile (Response Style and inhibitory control (Perseverations. Evidence of significant differences between the ADHD-I and the typically developing participants was not found with respect to the mean FA values in the fibre tracts analysed. Moderate and strong correlations between performance on the attention indicators and the tract-average fractional anisotropy values were found for the ADHD-I group. Our results contribute to a better characterization of the attentional profile of ADHD-I individuals and suggest that in children and adolescents with ADHD-I, attentional performance is mainly associated with the white-matter structure of the long associative fibres that connect anterior-posterior brain areas.

Attentional Profiles and White Matter Correlates in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Predominantly Inattentive Type.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossi, Adriana Suzart Ungaretti; de Moura, Luciana Monteiro; de Mello, Claudia Berlim; de Souza, Altay Alves Lino; Muszkat, Mauro; Bueno, Orlando Francisco Amodeo

2015-01-01

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a widely studied neurodevelopmental disorder. It is a highly heterogeneous condition, encompassing different types of expression. The predominantly inattentive type is the most prevalent and the most stable over the lifetime, yet it is the least-studied presentation. To increase understanding of its cognitive profile, 29 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder of predominantly inattentive type (ADHD-I) and 29 matched controls, aged 7-15 years, had their attentional abilities assessed through the Conners' continuous performance test. Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected for all of the participants using a 3.0-T MRI system. Fractional anisotropy (FA) values were obtained for 20 fiber tracts, and brain-behavior correlations were calculated for 42 of the children. The ADHD-I children differed significantly from the typically developing (TD) children with respect to attentional measures, such as the ability to maintain response-time consistency throughout the task (Hit RT SE and Variability), vigilance (Hit RT ISI and Hit RT ISI SE), processing speed (Hit RT), selective attention (Omissions), sustained attention (Hit RT Block Change), error profile (Response Style), and inhibitory control (Perseverations). Evidence of significant differences between the ADHD-I and the TD participants was not found with respect to the mean FA values in the fiber tracts analyzed. Moderate and strong correlations between performance on the attention indicators and the tract-average FA values were found for the ADHD-I group. Our results contribute to a better characterization of the attentional profile of ADHD-I individuals and suggest that in children and adolescents with ADHD-I, attentional performance is mainly associated with the white matter structure of the long associative fibers that connect anterior-posterior brain areas.

A fault diagnosis and operation advising cooperative expert system based on multi-agent technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, W.; Bai, X.; Ding, J.; Fang, Z.; Li, Z. [China Electric Power Research Inst., Haidian District, Beijing (China)

2006-07-01

Power systems are becoming more and more complex. In addition, the amount of real-time alarm messages from the supervisory control and data acquisition, energy management systems and wide area measurement systems about switchgear and protection are also increasing to a point far beyond the operator's capacity to digest the information. Research and development of a fault diagnosis system is necessary for the timely identification of fault or malfunctioning devices and for realizing the automation functions of dynamic supervisory control system. The prevailing fault diagnosis approaches in power systems include the expert system, artificial neural network, and fault diagnosis based on optimal theory. This paper discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each of these approaches for diagnosing faults. The paper also proposed a new fault diagnosis and operational processing approach based on a cooperative expert system combined with a multi-agent architecture. For solving complex and correlative faults, the cooperative expert system can overcome the deficiency of a single expert system. It can be used not only for diagnosing complex faults in real time but also in providing timely operational advice. The proposed system has been used successfully in a district power grid in China's Shangdong province for a year. 9 refs., 4 figs.

Attention processes in chronic fatigue syndrome: attentional bias for health-related threat and the role of attentional control.

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Ruihua; Moss-Morris, Rona; Risdale, Anna; Lynch, Jeannette; Jeevaratnam, Preshan; Bradley, Brendan P; Mogg, Karin

2014-01-01

Cognitive behavioural models of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) propose that attention processes, specifically, enhanced selective attention to health-threat related cues, may play an important role in symptom maintenance. The current study investigated attentional bias towards health-threat stimuli in CFS. It also examined whether individuals with CFS have impaired executive attention, and whether this was related to attentional bias. 27 participants with CFS and 35 healthy controls completed a Visual Probe Task measuring attentional bias, and an Attention Network Test measuring executive attention, alerting and orienting. Participants also completed self-report measures of CFS and mood symptoms. Compared to the control group, the CFS group showed greater attentional bias for health-threat words than pictures; and the CFS group was significantly impaired in executive attention. Furthermore, CFS individuals with poor executive attention showed greater attentional bias to health-threat related words, compared not only to controls but also to CFS individuals with good executive attention. Thus, this study revealed a significant relationship between attentional bias and executive attention in CFS: attentional bias to threat was primarily evident in those with impaired executive attention control. Taking account of individual differences in executive attention control in current intervention models may be beneficial for CFS. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

System design description for the LDUA common video end effector system (CVEE)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pardini, A.F.

1998-01-01

The Common Video End Effector System (CVEE), system 62-60, was designed by the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) to provide the control interface of the various video end effectors used on the LDUA. The CVEE system consists of a Support Chassis which contains the input and output Opto-22 modules, relays, and power supplies and the Power Chassis which contains the bipolar supply and other power supplies. The combination of the Support Chassis and the Power Chassis make up the CVEE system. The CVEE system is rack mounted in the At Tank Instrument Enclosure (ATIE). Once connected it is controlled using the LDUA supervisory data acquisition system (SDAS). Video and control status will be displayed on monitors within the LDUA control center

Chewing and Attention: A Positive Effect on Sustained Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Onozuka, Minoru

2015-01-01

Chewing is crushing food not only to aid swallowing and digestion, but also to help stress relief and regulate cognitive function, especially in attention. It is well known that chewing gum is used for sleepiness prevention during work, learning, and driving, suggesting a link between chewing and sustained attention. We hypothesized that chewing elevates attention and/or alertness, leading to improvements in cognitive performance. We carried out a systematic review of the PubMed database. We inspected the attributes of effects on attention in studies investigating the effects of chewing on attention or alertness conducted with pre-post design in healthy subjects, except elderly. We identified 151 references, 22 of which were included: 14 (64%) showed positive attributes of effects on attention, 1 (5%) showed negative attributes of effects on attention, 5 (23%) showed both positive and negative attributes of effects on attention, and 2 (9%) showed no significant attributes of effects on attention. Thus, positive attributes of effects of chewing on attention, especially on sustained attention, were shown in over half of the reports. These effects also appeared with improvement in mood and stress relief and were influenced by time-on-task effect. Further studies are needed, but chewing could be useful for modifying cognitive function. PMID:26075234

Chewing and Attention: A Positive Effect on Sustained Attention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoshiyuki Hirano

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Chewing is crushing food not only to aid swallowing and digestion, but also to help stress relief and regulate cognitive function, especially in attention. It is well known that chewing gum is used for sleepiness prevention during work, learning, and driving, suggesting a link between chewing and sustained attention. We hypothesized that chewing elevates attention and/or alertness, leading to improvements in cognitive performance. We carried out a systematic review of the PubMed database. We inspected the attributes of effects on attention in studies investigating the effects of chewing on attention or alertness conducted with pre-post design in healthy subjects, except elderly. We identified 151 references, 22 of which were included: 14 (64% showed positive attributes of effects on attention, 1 (5% showed negative attributes of effects on attention, 5 (23% showed both positive and negative attributes of effects on attention, and 2 (9% showed no significant attributes of effects on attention. Thus, positive attributes of effects of chewing on attention, especially on sustained attention, were shown in over half of the reports. These effects also appeared with improvement in mood and stress relief and were influenced by time-on-task effect. Further studies are needed, but chewing could be useful for modifying cognitive function.

Chewing and attention: a positive effect on sustained attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirano, Yoshiyuki; Onozuka, Minoru

2015-01-01

Chewing is crushing food not only to aid swallowing and digestion, but also to help stress relief and regulate cognitive function, especially in attention. It is well known that chewing gum is used for sleepiness prevention during work, learning, and driving, suggesting a link between chewing and sustained attention. We hypothesized that chewing elevates attention and/or alertness, leading to improvements in cognitive performance. We carried out a systematic review of the PubMed database. We inspected the attributes of effects on attention in studies investigating the effects of chewing on attention or alertness conducted with pre-post design in healthy subjects, except elderly. We identified 151 references, 22 of which were included: 14 (64%) showed positive attributes of effects on attention, 1 (5%) showed negative attributes of effects on attention, 5 (23%) showed both positive and negative attributes of effects on attention, and 2 (9%) showed no significant attributes of effects on attention. Thus, positive attributes of effects of chewing on attention, especially on sustained attention, were shown in over half of the reports. These effects also appeared with improvement in mood and stress relief and were influenced by time-on-task effect. Further studies are needed, but chewing could be useful for modifying cognitive function.

Australia; Financial System Stability Assessment, including Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on the following topics: Banking Supervision, Insurance Regulation, Securities Regulation, and Payment Systems

OpenAIRE

International Monetary Fund

2006-01-01

The Australian banking system, which holds approximately half of total financial systems assets, and is dominated by four major banks, is sound with high earnings, high asset growth, and low levels of problem assets. Stress tests did not reveal near-term stability concerns, suggesting the banking system is likely to be resilient to adverse shocks. Australia’s financial supervisory structure of prudential authority and market conduct authority is sound overall. The medium-term challenges facin...

Distributed expert systems for nuclear reactor control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otaduy, P.J.

1992-01-01

A network of distributed expert systems is the heart of a prototype supervisory control architecture developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for an advanced multimodular reactor. Eight expert systems encode knowledge on signal acquisition, diagnostics, safeguards, and control strategies in a hybrid rule-based, multiprocessing and object-oriented distributed computing environment. An interactive simulation of a power block consisting of three reactors and one turbine provides a realistic, testbed for performance analysis of the integrated control system in real-time. Implementation details and representative reactor transients are discussed

The Attention Cascade Model and Attentional Blink

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Shui-I

2008-01-01

An attention cascade model is proposed to account for attentional blinks in rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of stimuli. Data were collected using single characters in a single RSVP stream at 10 Hz [Shih, S., & Reeves, A. (2007). "Attentional capture in rapid serial visual presentation." "Spatial Vision", 20(4), 301-315], and single words,…

SCADA system with predictive controller applied to irrigation canals

OpenAIRE

Figueiredo, João; Botto, Miguel; Rijo, Manuel

2013-01-01

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

Acute central nervous system (CNS) toxicity of total body irradiation (TBI) measured using neuropsychological testing of attention functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wenz, Frederik; Steinvorth, Sarah; Lohr, Frank; Hacke, Werner; Wannenmacher, Michael

1999-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate acute normal tissue damage of low irradiation doses to the healthy, adult central nervous system (CNS) using neuropsychological testing of attention functions. Methods and Materials: Neuropsychological testing (IQ, attention [modified Trail-Making Test A, Digit Symbol Test, D2 Test, Wiener Determination Machine]) was used to examine 40 patients (43 ± 10 years) before and immediately after the first fraction (1.2 Gy) of hyperfractionated total body irradiation (TBI) at the University of Heidelberg. The patients received antiemetic premedication. Test results are given as mean percentiles ± standard deviation, with 50 ± 34 being normal. Thirty-eight control patients (53 ± 15 years) were studied to quantify the influence of hospitalization, stress, and repeated testing. Results: The patients showed normal baseline test results (IQ = 101 ± 14, attention = 54 ± 28) and no decrease in test results after 1.2 Gy TBI. Attention functions improved (66 ± 25) corresponding to a practice effect of repeated testing that was seen in the control group, although alternate versions of the tests were used (IQ = 104 ± 10, attention before = 42 ± 29, attention after = 52 ± 31). Conclusion: Our data show no deterioration of neuropsychologic test results acutely after 1.2 Gy whole body exposure in adult patients without CNS disease receiving antiemetic medication

Can Attention be Divided Between Perceptual Groups?

Science.gov (United States)

McCann, Robert S.; Foyle, David C.; Johnston, James C.; Hart, Sandra G. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Previous work using Head-Up Displays (HUDs) suggests that the visual system parses the HUD and the outside world into distinct perceptual groups, with attention deployed sequentially to first one group and then the other. New experiments show that both groups can be processed in parallel in a divided attention search task, even though subjects have just processed a stimulus in one perceptual group or the other. Implications for models of visual attention will be discussed.

Autonomic correlates at rest and during evoked attention in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and effects of methylphenidate.

Science.gov (United States)

Negrao, Bianca Lee; Bipath, Priyesh; van der Westhuizen, Deborah; Viljoen, Margaretha

2011-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess autonomic nervous system functioning in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to examine the effects of methylphenidate and focussed attention. Children with ADHD (n = 19) were tested while they were stimulant free and during a period in which they were on stimulants. On both occasions, autonomic nervous system functioning was tested at baseline and during focussed attention. Autonomic nervous system functioning of control subjects was also tested at baseline and during focussed attention. Autonomic nervous system activity was determined by means of heart rate variability (HRV) and skin conductivity analyses. Attention was evoked by means of the BioGraph Infiniti biofeedback apparatus. HRV was determined by time domain, frequency domain and Poincaré analysis of RR interval data. Skin conductivity was determined by the BioGraph Infiniti biofeedback apparatus. The main findings of this study were (a) that stimulant-free children with ADHD showed a sympathetic underarousal and parasympathetic overarousal of the sympathovagal balance relative to control subjects; (b) methylphenidate shifted the autonomic balance of children with ADHD towards normal levels; however, a normal autonomic balance was not reached, and (c) stimulant-free children with ADHD exhibited a shift in the sympathovagal balance towards the sympathetic nervous system from baseline to focussed attention; however, methylphenidate appeared to abolish this shift. Stimulant-free children with ADHD have a parasympathetic dominance of the autonomic balance, relative to control subjects. Methylphenidate attempts to restore the normal autonomic balance in children with ADHD, but inhibits the normal autonomic nervous system response to a cognitive challenge. These results indicate that methylphenidate may have a suppressive effect on the normal stress response. Although this may be of benefit to those who interact with children who suffer from ADHD

Reducing attentional capture of emotion by broadening attention: increased global attention reduces early electrophysiological responses to negative stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Gable, Philip A; Harmon-Jones, Eddie

2012-05-01

Decades of research has shown the influence of emotion on attentional capture, and more recently, the influence of emotion on neurophysiological processes related to attentional capture. The current research tested whether some of the earliest neurophysiological underpinnings of emotive attentional processes can be influenced by attentional manipulations of broadening versus narrowing. Previous research has shown that negative affects high in motivational intensity (e.g., disgust, fear) cause a relative narrowing of attentional scope (Gable and Harmon-Jones, 2010a; Easterbrook, 1959). Because of the strong link between motivation and attention, attentional scope should also influence the attentional capture of negative stimuli. The current study manipulated a local attentional scope or global attentional scope, then measured attentional capture towards disgust and neutral pictures using the N1 event-related potential component. Results revealed that a manipulated global attentional scope reduced N1 amplitude towards disgust pictures compared to a manipulated local attentional scope. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A monocular, unconscious form of visual attention

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Self, M.W.; Roelfsema, P.R.

2010-01-01

Sudden changes in our visual field capture our attention so that we are faster and more accurate in our responses to that region of space. The underlying mechanisms by which these behavioral improvements occur are unknown. Here we investigate the level of the visual system at which attentional

Orientation-modulated attention effect on visual evoked potential: Application for PIN system using brain-computer interface.