Oil Characteristics of Four Palestinian Olive Varieties.

PubMed

Lodolini, Enrico Maria; Polverigiani, Serena; Ali, Saed; Mutawea, Mohammed; Qutub, Mayyada; Arabasi, Taysir; Pierini, Fabio; Abed, Mohammed; Neri, Davide

2017-05-01

Olive oil represents an important source of income for Palestinian farmers in local, national and international markets. Sometimes, olive oil produced in local climatic conditions, does not achieve the International Olive Council (IOC) trade standards so that international markets are precluded. The oil chemical composition and sensory profile of four Palestinian olive varieties (Nabali Baladi, Nabali Mohassan, Souri and K18) were characterized in 2010 throughout an in situ evaluation. Most of the physicchemical characteristics and the fatty acid composition of the varieties met the International Olive Council trade standards (IOC-TS) for extra virgin olive oils. Values of K 270 for Nabali Baladi and linolenic acid for Souri slightly exceeded the limit. Eicosanoic acid exceeded the IOC-TS limits in the oils of all considered varieties. Among the sterols, the Δ-7-stigmastenol resulted too high for Nabali Baladi and Souri. Sensory profile for the tested varieties showed a reminiscence of tomato or artichoke and light to medium bitter and pungent sensations. Results represent an important baseline reference for further studies about oil composition and quality of the main Palestinian olive germplasm and provide indication of potential critical points to be controlled in order to ensure the full achievement of IOC-TS and access international markets.

[Anti-doping policy development process in the sports world (1968~1999): focusing on IOC activities and passive response from Korea].

PubMed

Hwang, Eui-Ryong; Kim, Tae-Young

2014-08-01

This study investigated the anti-doping policy promoted by the IOC historical sociologically focusing on the period from 1968 to 1999. Public opinion surrounding doping control has emerged as a large amount of drug possession by athletes who had participated in the 1952 Olympics was caught, as well as following the accident where an athlete had died during the competition as a result of doping. From 1960, as many doping cases in sports games were exposed, several international organizations proclaimed fight against doping in order to seek a preventive measure. In 1961, the IOC newly established a medical commission within the organization. It was decided to implement doping control and female sex testing at the same time for all athletes who participated in the 1967 Olympics, and they were implemented from 1968 winter and summer Olympic Games. In 1971, the provisions for the tests were prescribed as mandatory on the IOC charter. From 1989, the OCT system was introduced as a measure to overcome limitations of the detection during competition period. As political problems and limitations emerged, WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) was established in 1999 to professionally manage and push for doping control. Female sex testing policy contributed to preventing males from participating in female competition by deceiving their gender to some extent. However, it was abolished due to strong public condemnation such as women's rights issues, social stigma and pain, and gender discrimination debate. In 1984, a doping control center was established in Korea, which enabled drug use or doping in the sports world to emerge to the surface in our society. Korea Sports Council and KOC articles of association that supervise doping related matters of Korean athletes were revised in 1990. The action of inserting doping related issue in the articles of association was taken 20 years after the start of IOC doping policy. Beginning with two international competitions in the 1980s, Korean athletes experienced doping test directly, yet education about doping was limited. However, some national team level athletes tested positive on the doping test and underwent disciplinary action. In addition, athletic federation or leaders acquiesced athletes doping made secretly; this indicated that South Korea was also not free from doping. It was found that Korea world of sports showed very passive countermeasures and development process.

Structural and thermal properties of inorganic-organic montmorillonite: Implications for their potential environmental applications.

PubMed

Rathnayake, Suramya I; Xi, Yunfei; Frost, Ray L; Ayoko, Godwin A

2015-12-01

Inorganic-organic clays (IOCs), clays intercalated with both organic cations such as cationic surfactants and inorganic cations such as metal hydroxy polycations have the properties of both organic and pillared clays, and thereby the ability to remove both inorganic and organic contaminants from water simultaneously. In this study, IOCs were synthesised using three different methods with different surfactant concentrations. Octadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (ODTMA) and hydroxy aluminium ([Al13O4(OH)24(H2O)12](7+) or Al13) are used as the organic and inorganic modifiers (intercalation agents). According to the results, the interlayer distance, the surfactant loading amount and the Al/Si ratio of IOCs strictly depend on the intercalation method and the intercalation agent ratio. Interlayers of IOCs synthesised by intercalating ODTMA before Al13 and IOCs synthesised by simultaneous intercalation of ODTMA and Al13 were increased with increasing the ODTMA concentration used in the synthesis procedure and comparatively high loading amounts could be observed in them. In contrast, Al/Si decreased with increasing ODTMA concentration in these two types of IOCs. The results suggest that Al-pillars can be fixed within the interlayers by calcination and any increment in the amount of ODTMA used in the synthesis procedure did not affect the interlayer distance of the IOCs. Overall the study provides valuable insights into the structure and properties of the IOCs and their potential environmental applications. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Performance Comparison of EPICS IOC and MARTe in a Hard Real-Time Control Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbalace, Antonio; Manduchi, Gabriele; Neto, A.; De Tommasi, G.; Sartori, F.; Valcarcel, D. F.

2011-12-01

EPICS is used worldwide mostly for controlling accelerators and large experimental physics facilities. Although EPICS is well fit for the design and development of automation systems, which are typically VME or PLC-based systems, and for soft real-time systems, it may present several drawbacks when used to develop hard real-time systems/applications especially when general purpose operating systems as plain Linux are chosen. This is in particular true in fusion research devices typically employing several hard real-time systems, such as the magnetic control systems, that may require strict determinism, and high performance in terms of jitter and latency. Serious deterioration of important plasma parameters may happen otherwise, possibly leading to an abrupt termination of the plasma discharge. The MARTe framework has been recently developed to fulfill the demanding requirements for such real-time systems that are alike to run on general purpose operating systems, possibly integrated with the low-latency real-time preemption patches. MARTe has been adopted to develop a number of real-time systems in different Tokamaks. In this paper, we first summarize differences and similarities between EPICS IOC and MARTe. Then we report on a set of performance measurements executed on an x86 64 bit multicore machine running Linux with an IO control algorithm implemented in an EPICS IOC and in MARTe.

Sorption of ionizable and ionic organic compounds to biochar, activated carbon and other carbonaceous materials.

PubMed

Kah, Melanie; Sigmund, Gabriel; Xiao, Feng; Hofmann, Thilo

2017-11-01

The sorption of ionic and ionizable organic compounds (IOCs) (e.g., pharmaceuticals and pesticides) on carbonaceous materials plays an important role in governing the fate, transport and bioavailability of IOCs. The paradigms previously established for the sorption of neutral organic compounds do not always apply to IOCs and the importance of accounting for the particular sorption behavior of IOCs is being increasingly recognized. This review presents the current state of knowledge and summarizes the recent advances on the sorption of IOCs to carbonaceous sorbents. A broad range of sorbents were considered to evaluate the possibility to read across between fields of research that are often considered in isolation (e.g., carbon nanotubes, graphene, biochar, and activated carbon). Mechanisms relevant to IOCs sorption on carbonaceous sorbents are discussed and critically evaluated, with special attention being given to emerging sorption mechanisms including low-barrier, charge-assisted hydrogen bonds and cation-π assisted π-π interactions. The key role played by some environmental factors is also discussed, with a particular focus on pH and ionic strength. Overall the review reveals significant advances in our understanding of the interactions between IOCs and carbonaceous sorbents. In addition, knowledge gaps are identified and priorities for future research are suggested. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research priorities of international sporting federations and the IOC research centres

PubMed Central

Talpey, Scott; Bradshaw, Ashley; Soligard, Torbjorn; Engebretsen, Lars

2016-01-01

Background/aim To be fully effective, the prevention of injury in sport and promotion of athlete's health needs to be both targeted and underpinned by scientific evidence. This study aimed to identify the research priorities of International Sporting Federation (ISFs) compared to the current research focus of the International Olympic Committee Research Centres (IOC-RCs). Methods Online survey of ISF Medical Chairpersons (n=22, 69% response) and IOC-RC Directors (n=7, 78% response). Open-ended responses relating to injury/illness priorities and specific athlete targets were thematically coded. Ratings were given of the need for different research types according to the Translating Research into Injury Prevention Practice (TRIPP) Framework stages. Results are presented as the frequency of ISFs and IOC-RCs separately. Results Both ISFs and IOC-RFs prioritised research into concussion (27%, 72%, respectively), competitive overuse (23%, 43%) and youth (41%, 43%). The ISFs also ranked catastrophic injuries (14%), environmental factors (18%), elite athletes (18%) and Paralympic athletes (14%) as important. The IOC-RCs gave higher priority to preventing respiratory illness (43%), long-term health consequences of injury (43%) and recreational athletes (43%). There was a trend towards ISFs valuing TRIPP stage 5/6 research more highly and for the IOC-RCs to value TRIPP stage 1/2 research. Conclusions There are clear opportunities to better link the priorities and actions of the ISFs and IOC-RCs, to ensure more effective practice-policy-research partnerships for the benefit of all athletes. Setting a mutually-agreed research agenda will require further active engagement between researchers and broader ISF representatives. PMID:27900197

Space Transportation Booster Engine (STBE) configuration study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

The overall objective of this Space Transportation Booster Engine (STBE) study is to identify candidate engine configurations which enhance vehicle performance and provide operational flexibility at low cost. The specific objectives are as follows: (1) to identify and evaluate candidate LOX/HC engine configurations for the Advanced Space Transportation System for an early 1995 IOC and a late 2000 IOC; (2) to select one optimum engine for each time period; 3) to prepare a conceptual design for each configuration; (4) to develop a technology plan for the 2000 IOC engine; and, (5) to prepare preliminary programmatic planning and analysis for the 1995 IOC engine.

IOC Rescinds Ban on Birth Control Drug.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duda, Marty

1988-01-01

A review of the International Olympic Committee's ban and subsequent reinstatement of a certain drug found in birth-control pills points out the need for careful analysis of drugs and their effects before they are banned. (CB)

Routine intraoperative cholangiography is unnecessary in patients with mild gallstone pancreatitis and normalizing bilirubin levels.

PubMed

Pham, Xuan-Binh D; de Virgilio, Christian; Al-Khouja, Lutfi; Bermudez, Michael C; Schwed, Alexander C; Kaji, Amy H; Plurad, David S; Lee, Steven L; Bennion, Robert S; Saltzman, Darin J; Kim, Dennis Y

2016-12-01

The benefit of intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) is controversial in patients with gallstone pancreatitis whose bilirubin levels are normalizing. IOC with subsequent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography may lengthen duration of surgery and length of stay, whereas failure to clear the common bile duct may result in recurrent pancreatitis. We performed a 6-year retrospective cohort analysis of consecutive adult patients with mild gallstone pancreatitis undergoing same-admission cholecystectomy at 2 university-affiliated medical centers. Institution A routinely performed IOC, whereas institution B did not. The primary outcome was readmission within 30 days for recurrent pancreatitis. Of 520 patients evaluated, 246 (47%) were managed at institution A (routine IOC) and 274 (53%) were managed at institution B (restricted IOC). Patients at institution B had a shorter duration of surgery (1.0 vs 1.6 hours, P < .001), shorter length of stay (4 vs 5 days, P < .001), and fewer postoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatographies performed (1.8% vs 21%, P < .001), without a difference in readmissions (1.5% vs 0%, P = .12). Routine IOC is not necessary in the setting of mild gallstone pancreatitis with normalizing bilirubin values. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Definition of common support equipment and space station interface requirements for IOC model technology experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Richard A.; Waiss, Richard D.

1988-01-01

A study was conducted to identify the common support equipment and Space Station interface requirements for the IOC (initial operating capabilities) model technology experiments. In particular, each principal investigator for the proposed model technology experiment was contacted and visited for technical understanding and support for the generation of the detailed technical backup data required for completion of this study. Based on the data generated, a strong case can be made for a dedicated technology experiment command and control work station consisting of a command keyboard, cathode ray tube, data processing and storage, and an alert/annunciator panel located in the pressurized laboratory.

Space station propulsion technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Briley, G. L.

1986-01-01

The progress on the Space Station Propulsion Technology Program is described. The objectives are to provide a demonstration of hydrogen/oxygen propulsion technology readiness for the Initial Operating Capability (IOC) space station application, specifically gaseous hydrogen/oxygen and warm hydrogen thruster concepts, and to establish a means for evolving from the IOC space station propulsion to that required to support and interface with advanced station functions. The evaluation of concepts was completed. The accumulator module of the test bed was completed and, with the microprocessor controller, delivered to NASA-MSFC. An oxygen/hydrogen thruster was modified for use with the test bed and successfully tested at mixture ratios from 4:1 to 8:1.

Space Station Initial Operational Concept (IOC) operations and safety view - Automation and robotics for Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bates, William V., Jr.

1989-01-01

The automation and robotics requirements for the Space Station Initial Operational Concept (IOC) are discussed. The amount of tasks to be performed by an eight-person crew, the need for an automated or directed fault analysis capability, and ground support requirements are considered. Issues important in determining the role of automation for the IOC are listed.

The IOC Centres of Excellence bring prevention to sports medicine.

PubMed

Engebretsen, Lars; Bahr, Roald; Cook, Jill L; Derman, Wayne; Emery, Carolyn A; Finch, Caroline F; Meeuwisse, Willem H; Schwellnus, Martin; Steffen, Kathrin

2014-09-01

The protection of an athlete's health and preventing injuries and illnesses in sport are top priorities for the IOC and its Medical Commission. The IOC therefore partners with selected research centres around the world and supports research in the field of sports medicine. This has enabled the IOC to develop an international network of expert scientists and clinicians in sports injury and disease prevention research. The IOC wants to promote injury and disease prevention and the improvement of physical health of the athlete by: (1) establishing long-term research programmes on injury and disease prevention (including studies on basic epidemiology, risk factors, injury mechanisms and intervention), (2) fostering collaborative relationships with individuals, institutions and organisations to improve athletes' health, (3) implementing and collaborating with applied, ongoing and novel research and development within the framework and long-term strategy of the IOC and (4) setting up knowledge translation mechanisms to share scientific research results with the field throughout the Olympic Movement and sports community and converting these results into concrete actions to protect the health of the athletes. In 2009, the IOC also identified four research centres that had an established track record in research, educational and clinical activities to achieve these ambitions: (1) the Australian Centre for Research into Injury in Sport and its Prevention (ACRISP), Australia; (2) the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre (SIPRC), Canada; (3) the Clinical Sport and Exercise Medicine Research (CSEM), South Africa and (4) the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center (OSTRC), Norway. This paper highlights the work carried out by these four IOC Centres of Excellence over the past 6 years and their contribution to the world of sports medicine. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Evolution of the Generic Lock System at Jefferson Lab

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brian Bevins; Yves Roblin

2003-10-13

The Generic Lock system is a software framework that allows highly flexible feedback control of large distributed systems. It allows system operators to implement new feedback loops between arbitrary process variables quickly and with no disturbance to the underlying control system. Several different types of feedback loops are provided and more are being added. This paper describes the further evolution of the system since it was first presented at ICALEPCS 2001 and reports on two years of successful use in accelerator operations. The framework has been enhanced in several key ways. Multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) lock types have been added formore » accelerator orbit and energy stabilization. The general purpose Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) locks can now be tuned automatically. The generic lock server now makes use of the Proxy IOC (PIOC) developed at Jefferson Lab to allow the locks to be monitored from any EPICS Channel Access aware client. (Previously clients had to be Cdev aware.) The dependency on the Qt XML parser has been replaced with the freely available Xerces DOM parser from the Apache project.« less

Morphometric analysis of the neuronal numbers and densities of the inferior olivary complex in the donkey (Equus asinus).

PubMed

Alkafafy, Mohamed; Rashed, Reda; Attia, Hossam

2011-07-01

The morphometric interrelations between the compartments of the inferior olivary complex (IOC) in the donkey (Equus asinus) were ascertained by examining serial sections throughout the entire length of the IOC for both sides. Nissl-stained celloidin sections of four brainstems of donkeys were used. The IOC consisted of three major nuclei and four small cell groups. The total neuronal count in both sides of the IOC was 202,040±8480 cells. The medial accessory olivary nucleus (MAO) had the largest relative area (46%) and the highest number of neurons (90,800±7600). The dorsal accessory olivary nucleus (DAO) had the second largest relative area (33%), while the principal olivary nucleus (PO) had the lowest relative area (21%). However, the total neuron count in the PO was larger (60,840±1840) than DAO (50,360±4040). The average neuronal density was 2700±400 cells/mm(3). The numerical values of the current study of the IOC in the donkey were similar to those of other mammals. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

An autonomous observation and control system based on EPICS and RTS2 for Antarctic telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Guang-yu; Wang, Jian; Tang, Peng-yi; Jia, Ming-hao; Chen, Jie; Dong, Shu-cheng; Jiang, Fengxin; Wu, Wen-qing; Liu, Jia-jing; Zhang, Hong-fei

2016-01-01

For unattended telescopes in Antarctic, the remote operation, autonomous observation and control are essential. An EPICS-(Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) and RTS2-(Remote Telescope System, 2nd Version) based autonomous observation and control system with remoted operation is introduced in this paper. EPICS is a set of open source software tools, libraries and applications developed collaboratively and used worldwide to create distributed soft real-time control systems for scientific instruments while RTS2 is an open source environment for control of a fully autonomous observatory. Using the advantage of EPICS and RTS2, respectively, a combined integrated software framework for autonomous observation and control is established that use RTS2 to fulfil the function of astronomical observation and use EPICS to fulfil the device control of telescope. A command and status interface for EPICS and RTS2 is designed to make the EPICS IOC (Input/Output Controller) components integrate to RTS2 directly. For the specification and requirement of control system of telescope in Antarctic, core components named Executor and Auto-focus for autonomous observation is designed and implemented with remote operation user interface based on browser-server mode. The whole system including the telescope is tested in Lijiang Observatory in Yunnan Province for practical observation to complete the autonomous observation and control, including telescope control, camera control, dome control, weather information acquisition with the local and remote operation.

Development of bovine serum albumin-water partition coefficients predictive models for ionogenic organic chemicals based on chemical form adjusted descriptors.

PubMed

Ding, Feng; Yang, Xianhai; Chen, Guosong; Liu, Jining; Shi, Lili; Chen, Jingwen

2017-10-01

The partition coefficients between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and water (K BSA/w ) for ionogenic organic chemicals (IOCs) were different greatly from those of neutral organic chemicals (NOCs). For NOCs, several excellent models were developed to predict their logK BSA/w . However, it was found that the conventional descriptors are inappropriate for modeling logK BSA/w of IOCs. Thus, alternative approaches are urgently needed to develop predictive models for K BSA/w of IOCs. In this study, molecular descriptors that can be used to characterize the ionization effects (e.g. chemical form adjusted descriptors) were calculated and used to develop predictive models for logK BSA/w of IOCs. The models developed had high goodness-of-fit, robustness, and predictive ability. The predictor variables selected to construct the models included the chemical form adjusted averages of the negative potentials on the molecular surface (V s-adj - ), the chemical form adjusted molecular dipole moment (dipolemoment adj ), the logarithm of the n-octanol/water distribution coefficient (logD). As these molecular descriptors can be calculated from their molecular structures directly, the developed model can be easily used to fill the logK BSA/w data gap for other IOCs within the applicability domain. Furthermore, the chemical form adjusted descriptors calculated in this study also could be used to construct predictive models on other endpoints of IOCs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Inverse expression of cystein-rich 61 (Cyr61/CCN1) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) in borderline tumors and carcinomas of the ovary.

PubMed

Bartel, Frank; Balschun, Katharina; Gradhand, Elise; Strauss, Hans G; Dittmer, Jürgen; Hauptmann, Steffen

2012-09-01

Members of the CCN [cystein-rich 61 (Cyr61)/connective tissue growth factor (CTGF)/nephroblastoma (NOV)] protein family are involved in the regulation of cellular proliferation, apoptosis, and migration and are also assumed to play a role in carcinogenesis. Therefore, we performed a retrospective study to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of both Cyr61 and CTGF in 92 borderline tumors (BOTs) and 107 invasive carcinomas of the ovary (IOCs). To determine their diagnostic and prognostic value, we correlated protein expression with clinicopathologic factors including overall and disease-free survival. Cyr61 and CTGF were found to be inversely expressed in both BOTs and IOCs, with a stronger expression of Cyr61 in IOCs. Moreover, Cyr61 was found to be preferentially expressed in high-grade serous carcinomas, whereas CTGF was found more frequently in low-grade serous carcinomas. Weak Cyr61 levels correlated with both low estrogen receptor and p53 expression (P=0.038, P=0.04, respectively). However, no association was observed between CTGF, estrogen receptor, and p53 expression levels in IOCs. Regarding prognosis, Cyr61 was found to be of no value, but the loss of CTGF was found to be associated with a poor prognosis in multivariate analysis of overall (relative risk 2.8; P=0.050) and disease-free (relative risk 2.3; P=0.031) survival. Cyr61 and CTGF are inversely expressed in BOTs and IOCs, and loss of CTGF independently indicates poor prognosis in IOCs.

Diagnostic assessment of intraoperative cytology for papillary thyroid carcinoma: using a decision tree analysis.

PubMed

Pyo, J-S; Sohn, J H; Kang, G

2017-03-01

The aim of this study was to elucidate the cytological characteristics and the diagnostic usefulness of intraoperative cytology (IOC) for papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). In addition, using decision tree analysis, effective features for accurate cytological diagnosis were sought. We investigated cellularity, cytological features and diagnosis based on the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology in IOC of 240 conventional PTCs. The cytological features were evaluated in terms of nuclear score with nuclear features, and additional figures such as presence of swirling sheets, psammoma bodies, and multinucleated giant cells. The nuclear score (range 0-7) was made via seven nuclear features, including (1) enlarged, (2) oval or irregularly shaped nuclei, (3) longitudinal nuclear grooves, (4) intranuclear cytoplasmic pseudoinclusion, (5) pale nuclei with powdery chromatin, (6) nuclear membrane thickening, and (7) marginally placed micronucleoli. Nuclear scores in PTC, suspicious for malignancy, and atypia of undetermined significance cases were 6.18 ± 0.80, 4.48 ± 0.82, and 3.15 ± 0.67, respectively. Additional figures more frequent in PTC than in other diagnostic categories were identified. Cellularity of IOC significantly correlated with tumor size, nuclear score, and presence of additional figures. Also, IOCs with higher nuclear scores (4-7) significantly correlated with larger tumor size and presence of additional figures. In decision tree analysis, IOCs with nuclear score >5 and swirling sheets could be considered diagnostic for PTCs. Our study suggests that IOCs using nuclear features and additional figures could be useful with decreasing the likelihood of inconclusive results.

Space station accommodations for life sciences research facilities. Phase 1: Conceptual design and programmatics studies for Missions SAAX0307, SAAX0302 and the transition from SAAX0307 to SAAX0302. Volume 2: Study results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

Lockheed Missiles and Space Company's conceptual designs and programmatics for a Space Station Nonhuman Life Sciences Research Facility (LSRF) are presented. Conceptual designs and programmatics encompass an Initial Orbital Capability (IOC) LSRF, a growth or follow-on Orbital Capability (FOC), and the transitional process required to modify the IOC LSFR to the FOC LSFR. The IOC and FOC LSFRs correspond to missions SAAX0307 and SAAX0302 of the Space Station Mission Requirements Database, respectively.

Contamination assessment for OSSA space station IOC payloads

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, S. T.

1987-01-01

An assessment is made of NASA/OSSA space station IOC payloads. The report has two main objectives, i.e., to provide realistic contamination requirements for space station attached payloads, serviced payloads and platforms, and to determine unknowns or major impacts requiring further assessment.

Inverse opal carbons for counter electrode of dye-sensitized solar cells.

PubMed

Kang, Da-Young; Lee, Youngshin; Cho, Chang-Yeol; Moon, Jun Hyuk

2012-05-01

We investigated the fabrication of inverse opal carbon counter electrodes using a colloidal templating method for DSSCs. Specifically, bare inverse opal carbon, mesopore-incoporated inverse opal carbon, and graphitized inverse opal carbon were synthesized and stably dispersed in ethanol solution for spray coating on a FTO substrate. The thickness of the electrode was controlled by the number of coatings, and the average relative thickness was evaluated by measuring the transmittance spectrum. The effect of the counter electrode thickness on the photovoltaic performance of the DSSCs was investigated and analyzed by interfacial charge transfer resistance (R(CT)) under EIS measurement. The effect of the surface area and conductivity of the inverse opal was also investigated by considering the increase in surface area due to the mesopore in the inverse opal carbon and conductivity by graphitization of the carbon matrix. The results showed that the FF and thereby the efficiency of DSSCs were increased as the electrode thickness increased. Consequently, the larger FF and thereby the greater efficiency of the DSSCs were achieved for mIOC and gIOC compared to IOC, which was attributed to the lower R(CT). Finally, compared to a conventional Pt counter electrode, the inverse opal-based carbon showed a comparable efficiency upon application to DSSCs.

Measuring progress of the global sea level observing system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woodworth, Philip L.; Aarup, Thorkild; Merrifield, Mark; Mitchum, Gary T.; Le Provost, Christian

Sea level is such a fundamental parameter in the sciences of oceanography geophysics, and climate change, that in the mid-1980s, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) established the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS). GLOSS was to improve the quantity and quality of data provided to the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL), and thereby, data for input to studies of long-term sea level change by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It would also provide the key data needed for international programs, such as the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) and later, the Climate Variability and Predictability Programme (CLIVAR).GLOSS is now one of the main observation components of the Joint Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) of IOC and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Progress and deficiencies in GLOSS were presented in July to the 22nd IOC Assembly at UNESCO in Paris and are contained in the GLOSS Assessment Report (GAR) [IOC, 2003a].

Execution of the Spitzer In-orbit Checkout and Science Verification Plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miles, John W.; Linick, Susan H.; Long, Stacia; Gilbert, John; Garcia, Mark; Boyles, Carole; Werner, Michael; Wilson, Robert K.

2004-01-01

The Spitzer Space Telescope is an 85-cm telescope with three cryogenically cooled instruments. Following launch, the observatory was initialized and commissioned for science operations during the in-orbit checkout (IOC) and science verification (SV) phases, carried out over a total of 98.3 days. The execution of the IOC/SV mission plan progressively established Spitzer capabilities taking into consideration thermal, cryogenic, optical, pointing, communications, and operational designs and constraints. The plan was carried out with high efficiency, making effective use of cryogen-limited flight time. One key component to the success of the plan was the pre-launch allocation of schedule reserve in the timeline of IOC/SV activities, and how it was used in flight both to cover activity redesign and growth due to continually improving spacecraft and instrument knowledge, and to recover from anomalies. This paper describes the adaptive system design and evolution, implementation, and lessons learned from IOC/SV operations. It is hoped that this information will provide guidance to future missions with similar engineering challenges

NAS (HOST/ARTS IIIA) to VME Modem Interface ATC Interface Hardware Manual

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-10-01

SIXT,RXSYNC,RXACTIVE,ALLOWI) IO,C,0,1,O,O1 - > [^bf,1,1,O,0J;vector 104 [o,c,0,1,o,0J -> [^hf,1,1,O,OJ;vector [I,C,0,1,O,0] -> [Abf,1,1,0,OJ;vector IO,C...VFU.T(R 501 C’-35 Io,c,1,1,o,o,o1 -> rhb ,0,01;i [X,C,1,1,0,O,1] -> ["hf,0,0; [1,C,1,I,0,1,01 -> [^ha,0,1];LACT (MTE)-S2 io,C,,1,0,1,01 -> I^ha,0,1; [1

Partitioning of Organic Ions to Muscle Protein: Experimental Data, Modeling, and Implications for in Vivo Distribution of Organic Ions.

PubMed

Henneberger, Luise; Goss, Kai-Uwe; Endo, Satoshi

2016-07-05

The in vivo partitioning behavior of ionogenic organic chemicals (IOCs) is of paramount importance for their toxicokinetics and bioaccumulation. Among other proteins, structural proteins including muscle proteins could be an important sorption phase for IOCs, because of their high quantity in the human and other animals' body and their polar nature. Binding data for IOCs to structural proteins are, however, severely limited. Therefore, in this study muscle protein-water partition coefficients (KMP/w) of 51 systematically selected organic anions and cations were determined experimentally. A comparison of the measured KMP/w with bovine serum albumin (BSA)-water partition coefficients showed that anionic chemicals sorb more strongly to BSA than to muscle protein (by up to 3.5 orders of magnitude), while cations sorb similarly to both proteins. Sorption isotherms of selected IOCs to muscle protein are linear (i.e., KMP/w is concentration independent), and KMP/w is only marginally influenced by pH value and salt concentration. Using the obtained data set of KMP/w a polyparameter linear free energy relationship (PP-LFER) model was established. The derived equation fits the data well (R(2) = 0.89, RMSE = 0.29). Finally, it was demonstrated that the in vitro measured KMP/w values of this study have the potential to be used to evaluate tissue-plasma partitioning of IOCs in vivo.

Transition metal modified and partially calcined inorganic-organic pillared clays for the adsorption of salicylic acid, clofibric acid, carbamazepine, and caffeine from water.

PubMed

Cabrera-Lafaurie, Wilman A; Román, Félix R; Hernández-Maldonado, Arturo J

2012-11-15

Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) are considered emerging contaminants, and their efficient removal from water is going to be a challenging endeavor. Microporous adsorbent materials, including pillared clays, could offer a potential solution if tailored properly. Although pillared clays have been employed previously for the removal of organics, the effective removal of PPCPs will only be possible if their surface and textural properties are manipulated from the bottom-up. This work presents the use of modified inorganic-organic pillared clays (IOCs) for the adsorption of salicylic acid, clofibric acid, carbamazepine, and caffeine. The IOCs have been modified with Co(2+), Cu(2+), or Ni(2+) to induce complexation-like adsorbate-adsorbent interactions at ambient conditions, in an attempt to provide an efficient and yet reversible driving force in the sub-ppm concentration range. Furthermore, the IOCs were partially calcined to increase effective surface area by an order of magnitude while preserving some hydrophobicity. In general, the Ni(2+) IOCs exhibited the greatest interaction with salicylic and clofibric acids, respectively, while the Co(2+) adsorbents excelled at adsorbing caffeine at low concentrations. All of the metal-modified IOCs showed comparable adsorption capacities for the case of carbamazepine, probably due to the lack of availability of particular functional groups in this adsorbate. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

76 FR 58286 - Notice of Availability of Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment for the Nationwide...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-20

... the comment, if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review a... this mandate through the development and transformation of approximately 35 existing Coast Guard Sector... considered for reconfiguration to IOCs. Addresses of Sector Locations Considered for Transformation to IOC...

The Internationalisation of Curricula: The Complexity and Diversity of Meaning in and beyond Japanese Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takagi, Hiroyuki

2015-01-01

The interpretation and implementation of ideas about the internationalisation of curricula (IoC) are complicated and multi-faceted. The complex and diverse perspectives on IoC reflect two concepts: "internationalisation" and "curriculum". These concepts embody contrasting perspectives on issues, including the competition-type…

Which molecular features affect the intrinsic hepatic clearance rate of ionizable organic chemicals in fish?

EPA Science Inventory

Greater knowledge of biotransformation rates for ionizable organic compounds (IOCs) in fish is required to properly assess the bioaccumulation potential of many environmentally relevant contaminants. In this study we measured in vitro hepatic clearance rates for 50 IOCs using a p...

Assessing the bioaccumulation potential of ionizable organic compounds: Current knowledge and research priorities

EPA Science Inventory

The objective of the present study is to review current knowledge regarding the bioaccumulation potential of IOCs, with a focus on the availability of empirical data for fish. Aspects of the bioaccumulation potential of IOCs in fish that can be characterized relatively well inclu...

Integrated optical circuits for numerical computation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Verber, C. M.; Kenan, R. P.

1983-01-01

The development of integrated optical circuits (IOC) for numerical-computation applications is reviewed, with a focus on the use of systolic architectures. The basic architecture criteria for optical processors are shown to be the same as those proposed by Kung (1982) for VLSI design, and the advantages of IOCs over bulk techniques are indicated. The operation and fabrication of electrooptic grating structures are outlined, and the application of IOCs of this type to an existing 32-bit, 32-Mbit/sec digital correlator, a proposed matrix multiplier, and a proposed pipeline processor for polynomial evaluation is discussed. The problems arising from the inherent nonlinearity of electrooptic gratings are considered. Diagrams and drawings of the application concepts are provided.

Iron overload cardiomyopathy: from diagnosis to management.

PubMed

Díez-López, Carles; Comín-Colet, Josep; González-Costello, José

2018-05-01

Iron overload cardiomyopathy (IOC) is an important predictor of prognosis in a significant number of patients with hereditary hemochromatosis and hematologic diseases. Its prevalence is increasing because of improved treatment strategies, which significantly improve life expectancy. We will review diagnosis, treatment, and recent findings in the field. The development of preclinical translational disease models during the last years have helped our understanding of specific disease pathophysiological pathways that might eventually change the outcomes of these patients. IOC is an overlooked disease because of the progressive silent disease pattern and the lack of physicians' expertise. It mainly affects patients with hemochromatosis and hematologic diseases and its prevalence is expected to increase with the improvement in life expectancy of hematologic disorders. Early diagnosis of IOC in patients at risk by means of biochemical parameters and cardiac imaging can lead to early treatment and improved prognosis. The mainstay of treatment of IOC is conventional heart failure treatment, combined with phlebotomies or iron chelation in the context of anemia. The development of preclinical models has provided a comprehensive look into specific pathophysiological pathways with potential treatment strategies that must be sustained by future randomized trials.

The IOC consensus statement: beyond the Female Athlete Triad--Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S).

PubMed

Mountjoy, Margo; Sundgot-Borgen, Jorunn; Burke, Louise; Carter, Susan; Constantini, Naama; Lebrun, Constance; Meyer, Nanna; Sherman, Roberta; Steffen, Kathrin; Budgett, Richard; Ljungqvist, Arne

2014-04-01

Protecting the health of the athlete is a goal of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC convened an expert panel to update the 2005 IOC Consensus Statement on the Female Athlete Triad. This Consensus Statement replaces the previous and provides guidelines to guide risk assessment, treatment and return-to-play decisions. The IOC expert working group introduces a broader, more comprehensive term for the condition previously known as 'Female Athlete Triad'. The term 'Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport' (RED-S), points to the complexity involved and the fact that male athletes are also affected. The syndrome of RED-S refers to impaired physiological function including, but not limited to, metabolic rate, menstrual function, bone health, immunity, protein synthesis, cardiovascular health caused by relative energy deficiency. The cause of this syndrome is energy deficiency relative to the balance between dietary energy intake and energy expenditure required for health and activities of daily living, growth and sporting activities. Psychological consequences can either precede RED-S or be the result of RED-S. The clinical phenomenon is not a 'triad' of the three entities of energy availability, menstrual function and bone health, but rather a syndrome that affects many aspects of physiological function, health and athletic performance. This Consensus Statement also recommends practical clinical models for the management of affected athletes. The 'Sport Risk Assessment and Return to Play Model' categorises the syndrome into three groups and translates these classifications into clinical recommendations.

NOAA's Satellite Climate Data Records: The Research to Operations Process and Current State

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Privette, J. L.; Bates, J. J.; Kearns, E. J.; NOAA's Climate Data Record Program

2011-12-01

In support of NOAA's mandate to provide climate products and services to the Nation, the National Climatic Data Center initiated the satellite Climate Data Record (CDR) Program. The Program develops and sustains climate information products derived from satellite data that NOAA has collected over the past 30+ years. These are the longest sets of continuous global measurements in existence. Data from other satellite programs, including those in NASA, the Department of Defense, and foreign space agencies, are also used. NOAA is now applying advanced analysis techniques to these historic data. This process is unraveling underlying climate trend and variability information and returning new value from the data. However, the transition of complex data processing chains, voluminous data products and documentation into an systematic, configuration controlled context involves many challenges. In this presentation, we focus on the Program's process for research-to-operations transition and the evolving systems designed to ensure transparency, security, economy and authoritative value. The Program has adopted a two-phase process defined by an Initial Operational Capability (IOC) and a Full Operational Capability (FOC). The principles and procedures for IOC are described, as well as the process for moving CDRs from IOC to FOC. Finally, we will describe the state of the CDRs in all phases the Program, with an emphasis on the seven community-developed CDRs transitioned to NOAA in 2011. Details on CDR access and distribution will be provided.

Altered cortical activation and connectivity patterns for visual attention processing in young adults post-traumatic brain injury: A functional near infrared spectroscopy study.

PubMed

Wu, Ziyan; Mazzola, Catherine A; Catania, Lori; Owoeye, Oyindamola; Yaramothu, Chang; Alvarez, Tara; Gao, Yu; Li, Xiaobo

2018-06-01

This study aimed at understanding the neurobiological mechanisms associated with inattention induced by traumatic brain injury (TBI). To eliminate the potential confounding caused by the heterogeneity of TBI, we focused on young adults postsports-related concussion (SRC). Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data were collected from 27 young adults post-SRC and 27 group-matched normal controls (NCs), while performing a visual sustained attention task. Task responsive cortical activation maps and pairwise functional connectivity among six regions of interest were constructed for each subject. Correlations among the brain imaging measures and clinical measures of attention were calculated in each group. Compared to the NCs, the SRC group showed significantly increased brain activation in left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and increased functional connectivity between right inferior occipital cortex (IOC) bilateral calcarine gyri (CG). The left MFG activation magnitude was significantly negatively correlated with the hyperactive/impulsive symptom severity measure in the NCs, but not in the patients. The right hemisphere CG-IOC functional connectivity showed a significant positive correlation with the hyperactive/impulsive symptom severity measure in patients, but not in NCs. The current data suggest that abnormal left MFG activation and hyper-communications between right IOC and bilateral CG during visual attention processing may significantly contribute to behavioral manifestations of attention deficits in patients with TBI. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Engineering solutions to improve the removal of fecal indicator bacteria by bioinfiltration systems during intermittent flow of stormwater.

PubMed

Mohanty, Sanjay K; Torkelson, Andrew A; Dodd, Hanna; Nelson, Kara L; Boehm, Alexandria B

2013-10-01

Bioinfiltration systems facilitate the infiltration of urban stormwater into soil and reduce high flow events and flooding. Stormwater carries a myriad of pollutants including fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). Significant knowledge gaps exist about the ability of bioinfiltration systems to remove and retain FIB. The present study investigates the ability of model, simplified bioinfiltration systems containing quartz sand and iron oxide-coated quartz sand (IOCS) to remove two FIB (Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli) suspended in synthetic stormwater with and without natural organic matter (NOM) as well as the potential for accumulated FIB to be remobilized during intermittent flow. The experiments were conducted in two phases: (1) the saturated columns packed with either sand or IOCS were contaminated by injecting stormwater with bacteria followed by injection of sterile stormwater and (2) the contaminated columns were subjected to intermittent infiltration of sterile stormwater preceded by a pause during which columns were either kept saturated or drained by gravity. During intermittent flow, fewer bacteria were released from the saturated column compared to the column drained by gravity: 12% of attached E. coli and 3% of attached Ent. faecalis were mobilized from the drained sand column compared to 3% of attached E. coli and 2% attached Ent. faecalis mobilized from the saturated sand column. Dry and wet cycles introduce moving air-water interfaces that can scour bacteria from grain surfaces. During intermittent flows, less than 0.2% of attached bacteria were mobilized from IOCS, which bound both bacteria irreversibly in the absence of NOM. Addition of NOM, however, increased bacterial mobilization from IOCS: 50% of attached E. coli and 8% of attached Ent. faecalis were released from IOCS columns during draining and rewetting. Results indicate that using geomedia such as IOCS that promote irreversible attachment of bacteria, and maintaining saturated condition, could minimize the mobilization of previous attached bacteria from bioinfiltration systems, although NOM may significantly decrease these benefits.

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. Reports of Governing and Major Subsidiary Bodies. Thirteenth Session of the Assembly (Paris, 12-28 March 1985.)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France). Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) functions within the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to promote scientific investigation into the nature and resources of the world's oceans. Summarized in this report are discussions that took place during the thirteenth session of the IOC Assembly.…

Global Broadcast Service (GBS)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

Frequency Follow-On ( UFO ) satellites, leased commercial satellite transponders, and the Wideband Global SATCOM constellation. Theater Injection Point...each IOC: IOC 1: - PIPs operational on UFO satellites 8, 9, 10. - Full Satellite Broadcast Manager capability. - Field 20% of JPO Receive Suites (19...Independently assess system capabilities. - Augment UFO GBS with leased commercial satellite services to cover gaps over CONUS. - Demonstrate smart push and

IOC/WMO Workshop on Marine Pollution Monitoring (3rd, New Delhi, India, February 11-15, 1980). Summary Report. Workshop Report No. 22.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France). Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Provided is a summary report of the third IOC/WMO (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission/World Meteorological Organization) workshop of marine pollution monitoring. Summaries are presented in nine sections, including: (1) workshop opening; (2) welcoming addresses; (3) reports on the Marine Pollution (Petroleum) Monitoring Pilot Project…

Post-IOC space station: Models of operation and their implications for organizational behavior, performance and effectiveness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Danford, S.; Meindl, J.; Hunt, R.

1985-01-01

Issues of crew productivity during design work on space station are discussed. The crew productivity is defined almost exclusively in terms of human factors engineering and habitability design concerns. While such spatial environmental conditions are necessary to support crew performance and productivity, they are not sufficient to ensure high levels of crew performance and productivity on the post-Initial Operational Configurations (IOC) space station. The role of the organizational environment as a complement to the spatial environment for influencing crew performance in such isolated and confined work settings is examined. Three possible models of operation for post-IOC space station's organizational environment are identified and it is explained how they and space station's spatial environment will combine and interact to occasion patterns of crew behavior is suggested. A three phase program of research design: (1) identify patterns of crew behavior likely to be occasioned on post-IOC space station for each of the three models of operation; and (2) to determine proactive/preventative management strategies which could be adopted to maximize the emergence of preferred outcomes in crew behavior under each of the several spatial and organizational environment combinations.

Silica Integrated Optical Circuits Based on Glass Photosensitivity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abushagur, Mustafa A. G.

1999-01-01

Integrated optical circuits play a major rule in the new photonics technology both in communication and sensing due to their small size and compatibility with integrated circuits. Currently integrated optical circuits (IOCs) are fabricated using similar manufacturing to those used in the semiconductor industry. In this study we are considering a new technique to fabricate IOCs which does not require layers of photolithography, depositing and etching. This method is based on the photosensitivity of germanosilicate glasses. Waveguides and other IOC devises can be patterned in these glasses by exposing them using UV lasers. This exposure by UV light changes the index of refraction of the germanosilicate glass. This technique enjoys both the simplicity and flexibility of design and fabrication with also the potential of being fast and low cost.

Continuous subcutaneous infusion of compound oxycodone for the relief of dyspnea in patients with terminally ill cancer: a retrospective study.

PubMed

Kawabata, Masahiro; Kaneishi, Keisuke

2013-05-01

Pain and dyspnea are the most prevalent and distressing symptoms in patients with terminally ill cancer. Evidences have accumulated for the effects of morphine on dyspnea, whereas little is known about the effects of oxycodone on dyspnea. We investigated the effectiveness of oxycodone for dyspnea in patients with terminally ill cancer. The injectable form of compound oxycodone (iOC) containing hydrocotarnine was administered continuously via subcutaneous route. We administered iOC to 136 patients. The effect on dyspnea was less conspicuous than pain, yet iOC was effective for dyspnea with varying degrees. None of the adverse effects observed were serious. These results suggest that continuous subcutaneous administration of oxycodone could be one of the reasonable alternatives in the management of dyspnea in patients with terminally ill cancer.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Santos, Bruno; Carvalho, Paulo F.; Rodrigues, A.P.

The ATCA standard specifies a mandatory Shelf Manager (ShM) unit which is a key element for the system operation. It includes the Intelligent Platform Management Controller (IPMC) which monitors the system health, retrieves inventory information and controls the Field Replaceable Units (FRUs). These elements enable the intelligent health monitoring, providing high-availability and safety operation, ensuring the correct system operation. For critical systems like ones of tokamak ITER these features are mandatory to support the long pulse operation. The Nominal Device Support (NDS) was designed and developed for the ITER CODAC Core System (CCS), which will be the responsible for plantmore » Instrumentation and Control (I and C), supervising and monitoring on ITER. It generalizes the Enhanced Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) device support interface for Data Acquisition (DAQ) and timing devices. However the support for health management features and ATCA ShM are not yet provided. This paper presents the implementation and test of a NDS for the ATCA ShM, using the ITER Fast Plant System Controller (FPSC) prototype environment. This prototype is fully compatible with the ITER CCS and uses the EPICS Channel Access (CA) protocol as the interface with the Plant Operation Network (PON). The implemented solution running in an EPICS Input / Output Controller (IOC) provides Process Variables (PV) to the PON network with the system information. These PVs can be used for control and monitoring by all CA clients, such as EPICS user interface clients and alarm systems. The results are presented, demonstrating the fully integration and the usability of this solution. (authors)« less

Assessing the bioaccumulation potential of ionizable organic ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The objective of the present study is to review current knowledge regarding the bioaccumulation potential of IOCs, with a focus on the availability of empirical data for fish. Aspects of the bioaccumulation potential of IOCs in fish that can be characterized relatively well include the pH-dependence of gill uptake and elimination, uptake in the gut, and sorption to phospholipids (membrane-water partitioning). Key challenges include the lack of empirical data for biotransformation and binding in plasma. Fish possess a diverse array of proteins which may transport IOCs across cell membranes. Except in a few cases, however, the significance of this transport for uptake and accumulation of environmental contaminants is unknown. Two case studies are presented. The first describes modeled effects of pH and biotransformation on bioconcentration of organic acids and bases, while the second employs an updated model to investigate factors responsible for accumulation of perfluoroalkylated acids (PFAA). The PFAA case study is notable insofar as it illustrates the likely importance of membrane transporters in the kidney and highlights the potential value of read across approaches. Recognizing the current need to perform bioaccumulation hazard assessments and ecological and exposure risk assessment for IOCs, we provide a tiered strategy that progresses (as needed) from conservative assumptions (models and associated data) to more sophisticated models requiring chemical-speci

Three Essays on National Oil Company Efficiency, Energy Demand and Transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eller, Stacy L.

This dissertation is composed of three separate essays in the field of energy economics. In the first paper, both data envelopment analysis and stochastic production frontier estimation are employed to provide empirical evidence on the revenue efficiency of national oil companies (NOCs) and private international oil companies (IOCs). Using a panel of 80 oil producing firms, the analysis suggests that NOCs are generally less efficient at generating revenue from a given resource base than IOCs, with some exceptions. Due to differing firm objectives, however, structural and institutional features may help explain much of the inefficiency. The second paper analyzes the relationship between economic development and the demand for energy. Energy consumption is modeled using panel data from 1990 to 2004 for 50 countries spanning all levels of development. We find the relationship between energy consumption and economic development corresponds to the structure of aggregate output and the nature of derived demand for electricity and direct-use fuels in each sector. Notably, the evidence of non-constant income elasticity of demand is much greater for electricity demand than for direct-use fuel consumption. In addition, we show that during periods of rapid economic development, one in which the short-term growth rate exceeds the long-run average, an increase in aggregate output is met by less energy-efficient capital. This is a result of capital being fixed in the short-term. As additional, more efficient capital stock is added to the production process, the short-term increase in energy intensity will diminish. In the third essay, we develop a system of equations to estimate a model of motor vehicle fuel consumption, vehicle miles traveled and implied fuel efficiency for the 67 counties of the State of Florida from 2001 to 2008. This procedure allows us to decompose the factors of fuel demand into elasticities of vehicle driving demand and fuel efficiency. Particular attention is paid to the influence of the price of fuel, the sale of goods and services, vehicle ownership and population density on each component of our model.

Precision Strike Annual Programs Review

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-11

Deceleration and Stabilization Subsystem Squib Fire Unit Thermal Battery Electronic Safe and Arm Device Air Data Sensor Main ChargeControl Actuator Power ...platforms, and ground teams. • Powered , maneuverable, small, lightweight, accurate and lethal, with reduced risk of collateral damage. Raytheon Missile...requirements evolve, so will capability • Builds on powerful infrastructure • “Color of Money” timing is very different Traditional Approach Traditional IOC

NIRSS Upgrades: Final Report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Politovich, Marcia K.

2007-01-01

This year we were able to further the NIRSS program by re-writing the data ingest and display code from LabVIEW to C++ and Java. This was leveraged by a University of Colorado Computer Science Department Senior Project. The upgrade made the display more portable and upgradeable. Comparisons with research aircraft flights conducted during AIRS-2 were also done and demonstrate reasonable skill in determining cloud altitudes and liquid water distribution. Improvements can still be made to the cloud and liquid logic. The icing hazard index was not evaluated here since that represents work in progress and needs to be made compatible with the new CIP-Severity algorithm. CIP is the Current Icing Potential product that uses a combination decision tree/fuzzy logic algorithm to combine numerical weather model output with operational sensor data (NEXRAD, GOES, METARs and voice pilot reports) to produce an hourly icing diagnosis across the CONUS. The new severity algorithm seeks to diagnose liquid water production through rising, cooling air, and depletion by ice processes. The information used by CIP is very different from that ingested by NIRSS but some common ground does exist. Additionally, the role of NIRSS and the information it both needs and provides needs to be determined in context of the Next Generation Air Traffic System (NGATS). The Weather Integrated Products Team has a plan for an Initial Operating Capability (IOC) to take place in 2012. NIRSS is not explicitly a part of that IOC but should be considered as a follow-on as part of the development path to a 2025 full capability.

Data General Corporation Advanced Operating System/Virtual Storage (AOS/ VS). Revision 7.60

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-02-22

control list for each directory and data file. An access control list includes the users who can and cannot access files as well as the access...and any required data, it can -5- February 22, 1989 Final Evaluation Report Data General AOS/VS SYSTEM OVERVIEW operate asynchronously and in parallel...memory. The IOC can perform the data transfer without further interventiin from the CPU. The I/O channels interface with the processor or system

2018 NDIA 33rd Annual National Test and Evaluation Conference

DTIC Science & Technology

2018-05-17

Breach IOC Delayed RDT&E Overrun MS B IOC First Flight CDR Wind Tunnel Campaign Flight Test Campaign $ Peak Burn Rate Occurs Around FF Wind Tunnel...Connectivity Team – Tier 2 network support, network characterization and analysis, walk-the- wire trouble resolution, assistance with new site Connection...File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) Server. The Test and Training Enabling Architecture (TENA) is used for over the wire simulation protocol via the DISGW

Space station accommodations for life sciences research facilities: Phase A conceptual design and programmatics studies for Missions SAAX0307, SAAX0302 and the transition from SAAX0307 to SAAX0302. Volume 1: Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

The conceptual designs and programmatics for a Space Station Nonhuman Life Sciences Research Facility (LSRF) are highlighted. Conceptual designs and programmatics encompass an Initial Orbital Capability (IOC) LSRF, a growth or Follow-on Orbital Capability (FOC), and the transitional process required to modify the IOC LSRF to the FOC LSRF.

Single and multi-component adsorption of salicylic acid, clofibric acid, carbamazepine and caffeine from water onto transition metal modified and partially calcined inorganic-organic pillared clay fixed beds.

PubMed

Cabrera-Lafaurie, Wilman A; Román, Félix R; Hernández-Maldonado, Arturo J

2015-01-23

Fixed-beds of transition metal (Co(2+), Ni(2+) or Cu(2+)) inorganic-organic pillared clays (IOCs) were prepared to study single- and multi-component non-equilibrium adsorption of a set of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs: salicylic acid, clofibric acid, carbamazepine and caffeine) from water. Adsorption capacities for single components revealed that the copper(II) IOCs have better affinity toward salicylic and clofibric acid. However, multi-component adsorption tests showed a considerable decrease in adsorption capacity for the acids and an unusual selectivity toward carbamazepine depending on the transition metal. This was attributed to a combination of competition between PPCPs for adsorption sites, adsorbate-adsorbate interactions, and plausible pore blocking caused by carbamazepine. The cobalt(II) IOC bed that was partially calcined to fractionate the surfactant moiety showcased the best selectivity toward caffeine, even during multi-component adsorption. This was due to a combination of a mildly hydrophobic surface and interaction between the PPCP and cobalt(II). In general, the tests suggest that these IOCs may be a potential solution for the removal of PPCPs if employed in a layered-bed configuration, to take care of families of adsorbates in a sequence that would produce sharpened concentration wavefronts. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

'Critical view of safety' as an alternative to routine intraoperative cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute biliary pathology.

PubMed

Sanjay, Pandanaboyana; Fulke, Jennifer L; Exon, David J

2010-08-01

The study aims to evaluate the use of "critical view of safety" (CVS) for the prevention of bile duct injuries during laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute biliary pathology as an alternative to routine intraoperative cholangiography (IOC). A policy of routine CVS to identify biliary anatomy and selective IOC for patients suspected to have common bile duct (CBD) stone was adopted. Receiver operator curves (ROCs) were used to identify cutoff values predicting CBD stones. Four hundred forty-seven consecutive, same admission laparoscopic cholecystectomies performed between August 2004 and July 2007 were reviewed. CVS was achieved in 388 (87%) patients. Where CVS was not possible, the operation was completed open. CBD stones were identified in 22/57 patients who underwent selective IOC. Preoperative liver function and CBD diameter were significantly higher in those with CBD stones (P < .001). ROC curve analysis identified preoperative cutoff values of bilirubin (35 mumol/L), alkaline phosphatase (250 IU/L), alanine aminotransferase (240 IU/L), and a CBD diameter of 10 mm, as predictive of CBD stones. No bile duct injuries occurred in this series. In acute biliary pathology, the use of CVS helps clarify the anatomy of Calot's triangle and is a suitable alternative to routine IOC. Selective cholangiography should be employed when preoperative liver function and CBD diameter are above defined thresholds.

Comparison between intraoperative cholangiography and choledochoscopy for ductal clearance in laparoscopic CBD exploration: a prospective randomized study.

PubMed

Vindal, Anubhav; Chander, Jagdish; Lal, Pawanindra; Mahendra, Balu

2015-05-01

Laparoscopic CBD exploration (LCBDE) is an accepted treatment modality for single stage management of CBD stones in fit patients. A transcholedochal approach is preferred in patients with a dilated CBD and large impacted stones in whom ductal clearance remains problematic. There are very few studies comparing intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) with choledochoscopy to determine ductal clearance in patients undergoing transcholedochal LCBDE. This series represents the first of those comparing the two from Asia. Between April 2009 and October 2012, 150 consecutive patients with CBD stones were enrolled in a prospective randomized study to undergo transcholedochal LCBDE on an intent-to-treat basis. Patients with CBD diameter of less than 9 mm on preoperative imaging were excluded from the study. Out of the 132 eligible patients, 65 patients underwent IOC (Group A), and 67 patients underwent intraoperative choledochoscopy (Group B) to determine CBD clearance. There were no differences between the two groups in the demographic profile and the preoperative biochemical findings. There was no conversion to open procedures, and complete stone clearance was achieved in all the 132 cases. The mean CBD diameter and the mean number of CBD stones removed were comparable between the two groups. Mean operating time was 170 min in Group A and 140 min in Group B (p < 0.001). There was no difference in complications between the two groups. Nine patients in Group A (13.8%) showed non-passage of contrast into the duodenum on IOC which resolved after administration of i.v. glucagon, suggesting a transient spasm of sphincter of Oddi. Two patients (3%) showed a false-positive result on IOC which had to be resolved with choledochoscopy. The present study showed that intraoperative choledochoscopy is better than IOC for determining ductal clearance after transcholedochal LCBDE and is less cumbersome and less time-consuming.

Prevention and management of noncommunicable disease: the IOC Consensus Statement, Lausanne 2013.

PubMed

Matheson, Gordon O; Klügl, Martin; Engebretsen, Lars; Bendiksen, Fredrik; Blair, Steven N; Börjesson, Mats; Budgett, Richard; Derman, Wayne; Erdener, Uğur; Ioannidis, John P A; Khan, Karim M; Martinez, Rodrigo; van Mechelen, Willem; Mountjoy, Margo; Sallis, Robert E; Schwellnus, Martin; Shultz, Rebecca; Soligard, Torbjørn; Steffen, Kathrin; Sundberg, Carl Johan; Weiler, Richard; Ljungqvist, Arne

2013-11-01

Morbidity and mortality from preventable, noncommunicable chronic disease (NCD) threatens the health of our populations and our economies. The accumulation of vast amounts of scientific knowledge has done little to change this. New and innovative thinking is essential to foster new creative approaches that leverage and integrate evidence through the support of big data, technology, and design thinking. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the results of a consensus meeting on NCD prevention sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in April 2013. Within the context of advocacy for multifaceted systems change, the IOC's focus is to create solutions that gain traction within health care systems. The group of participants attending the meeting achieved consensus on a strategy for the prevention and management of chronic disease that includes the following: 1. Focus on behavioral change as the core component of all clinical programs for the prevention and management of chronic disease. 2. Establish actual centers to design, implement, study, and improve preventive programs for chronic disease. 3. Use human-centered design (HCD) in the creation of prevention programs with an inclination to action, rapid prototyping and multiple iterations. 4. Extend the knowledge and skills of Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM) professionals to build new programs for the prevention and treatment of chronic disease focused on physical activity, diet, and lifestyle. 5. Mobilize resources and leverage networks to scale and distribute programs of prevention. True innovation lies in the ability to align thinking around these core strategies to ensure successful implementation of NCD prevention and management programs within health care. The IOC and SEM community are in an ideal position to lead this disruptive change. The outcome of the consensus meeting was the creation of the IOC Non-Communicable Diseases ad hoc Working Group charged with the responsibility of moving this agenda forward.

Prevention and management of non-communicable disease: the IOC consensus statement, Lausanne 2013.

PubMed

Matheson, Gordon O; Klügl, Martin; Engebretsen, Lars; Bendiksen, Fredrik; Blair, Steven N; Börjesson, Mats; Budgett, Richard; Derman, Wayne; Erdener, Uğur; Ioannidis, John P A; Khan, Karim M; Martinez, Rodrigo; van Mechelen, Willem; Mountjoy, Margo; Sallis, Robert E; Schwellnus, Martin; Shultz, Rebecca; Soligard, Torbjørn; Steffen, Kathrin; Sundberg, Carl Johan; Weiler, Richard; Ljungqvist, Arne

2013-11-01

Morbidity and mortality from preventable, non-communicable chronic disease (NCD) threatens the health of our populations and our economies. The accumulation of vast amounts of scientific knowledge has done little to change this. New and innovative thinking is essential to foster new creative approaches that leverage and integrate evidence through the support of big data, technology, and design thinking. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the results of a consensus meeting on NCD prevention sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in April, 2013. Within the context of advocacy for multifaceted systems change, the IOC's focus is to create solutions that gain traction within health care systems. The group of participants attending the meeting achieved consensus on a strategy for the prevention and management of chronic disease that includes the following: 1. Focus on behavioural change as the core component of all clinical programs for the prevention and management of chronic disease. 2. Establish actual centres to design, implement, study, and improve preventive programs for chronic disease. 3. Use human-centered design in the creation of prevention programs with an inclination to action, rapid prototyping and multiple iterations. 4. Extend the knowledge and skills of Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM) professionals to build new programs for the prevention and treatment of chronic disease focused on physical activity, diet and lifestyle. 5. Mobilize resources and leverage networks to scale and distribute programs of prevention. True innovation lies in the ability to align thinking around these core strategies to ensure successful implementation of NCD prevention and management programs within health care. The IOC and SEM community are in an ideal position to lead this disruptive change. The outcome of the consensus meeting was the creation of the IOC Non-Communicable Diseases ad-hoc Working Group charged with the responsibility of moving this agenda forward.

Prevention and management of non-communicable disease: the IOC consensus statement, Lausanne 2013.

PubMed

Matheson, Gordon O; Klügl, Martin; Engebretsen, Lars; Bendiksen, Fredrik; Blair, Steven N; Börjesson, Mats; Budgett, Richard; Derman, Wayne; Erdener, Ugur; Ioannidis, John P A; Khan, Karim M; Martinez, Rodrigo; Van Mechelen, Willem; Mountjoy, Margo; Sallis, Robert E; Schwellnus, Martin; Shultz, Rebecca; Soligard, Torbjørn; Steffen, Kathrin; Sundberg, Carl Johan; Weiler, Richard; Ljungqvist, Arne

2013-11-01

Morbidity and mortality from preventable, non-communicable chronic disease (NCD) threatens the health of our populations and our economies. The accumulation of vast amounts of scientific knowledge has done little to change this. New and innovative thinking is essential to foster new creative approaches that leverage and integrate evidence through the support of big data, technology and design thinking. The purpose of this paper is to summarise the results of a consensus meeting on NCD prevention sponsored by the IOC in April 2013. Within the context of advocacy for multifaceted systems change, the IOC's focus is to create solutions that gain traction within healthcare systems. The group of participants attending the meeting achieved consensus on a strategy for the prevention and management of chronic disease that includes the following: (1) Focus on behavioural change as the core component of all clinical programmes for the prevention and management of chronic disease. (2) Establish actual centres to design, implement, study and improve preventive programmes for chronic disease. (3) Use human-centred design in the creation of prevention programmes with an inclination to action, rapid prototyping and multiple iterations. (4) Extend the knowledge and skills of Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM) professionals to build new programmes for the prevention and treatment of chronic disease focused on physical activity, diet and lifestyle. (5) Mobilise resources and leverage networks to scale and distribute programmes of prevention. True innovation lies in the ability to align thinking around these core strategies to ensure successful implementation of NCD prevention and management programmes within healthcare. The IOC and SEM community are in an ideal position to lead this disruptive change. The outcome of the consensus meeting was the creation of the IOC Non-Communicable Diseases ad hoc Working Group charged with the responsibility of moving this agenda forward.

U.S. Marine Corps Landing Force Organizational Systems Study (LFOSS).

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-12-01

should be considered by the reader not as absolute but as planning information. Details on weapons and equipment that are classified are not included...clothing is designed for use in the -25 degree to 40 degree Farenheit range. The IOC is FY 87. (b) Lightweight Shelter System. A vapor- permeable... Farenheit . The IOC for the AVLB is FY 89. (3) M60 Track Width Mine Plow. The Track Width Mine Plow can be rapidly attached to a tank and clear land mines

Prooxidant Mechanisms in Iron Overload Cardiomyopathy

PubMed Central

Cheng, Ching-Feng; Lian, Wei-Shiung

2013-01-01

Iron overload cardiomyopathy (IOC), defined as the presence of systolic or diastolic cardiac dysfunction secondary to increased deposition of iron, is emerging as an important cause of heart failure due to the increased incidence of this disorder seen in thalassemic patients and in patients of primary hemochromatosis. At present, although palliative treatment by regular iron chelation was recommended; whereas IOC is still the major cause for mortality in patient with chronic heart failure induced by iron-overloading. Because iron is a prooxidant and the associated mechanism seen in iron-overload heart is still unclear; therefore, we intend to delineate the multiple signaling pathways involved in IOC. These pathways may include organelles such as calcium channels, mitochondria; paracrine effects from both macrophages and fibroblast, and novel mediators such as thromboxane A2 and adiponectin; with increased oxidative stress and inflammation found commonly in these signaling pathways. With further understanding on these complex and inter-related molecular mechanisms, we can propose potential therapeutic strategies to ameliorate the cardiac toxicity induced by iron-overloading. PMID:24350287

Spitzer Space Telescope in-orbit checkout and science verification operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Linick, Sue H.; Miles, John W.; Gilbert, John B.; Boyles, Carol A.

2004-01-01

Spitzer Space Telescope, the fourth and final of NASA's great observatories, and the first mission in NASA's Origins Program was launched 25 August 2003 into an Earth-trailing solar orbit. The observatory was designed to probe and explore the universe in the infrared. Before science data could be acquired, however, the observatory had to be initialized, characterized, calibrated, and commissioned. A two phased operations approach was defined to complete this work. These phases were identified as In-Orbit Checkout (IOC) and Science Verification (SV). Because the observatory lifetime is cryogen-limited these operations had to be highly efficient. The IOC/SV operations design accommodated a pre-defined distributed organizational structure and a complex, cryogenic flight system. Many checkout activities were inter-dependent, and therefore the operations concept and ground data system had to provide the flexibility required for a 'short turn-around' environment. This paper describes the adaptive operations system design and evolution, implementation, and lessons-learned from the completion of IOC/SV.

A method for feature selection of APT samples based on entropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Zhenyu; Li, Yihong; Hu, Jinsong

2018-05-01

By studying the known APT attack events deeply, this paper propose a feature selection method of APT sample and a logic expression generation algorithm IOCG (Indicator of Compromise Generate). The algorithm can automatically generate machine readable IOCs (Indicator of Compromise), to solve the existing IOCs logical relationship is fixed, the number of logical items unchanged, large scale and cannot generate a sample of the limitations of the expression. At the same time, it can reduce the redundancy and useless APT sample processing time consumption, and improve the sharing rate of information analysis, and actively respond to complex and volatile APT attack situation. The samples were divided into experimental set and training set, and then the algorithm was used to generate the logical expression of the training set with the IOC_ Aware plug-in. The contrast expression itself was different from the detection result. The experimental results show that the algorithm is effective and can improve the detection effect.

Review of Antibiotic Resistance in the Indian Ocean Commission: A Human and Animal Health Issue.

PubMed

Gay, Noellie; Belmonte, Olivier; Collard, Jean-Marc; Halifa, Mohamed; Issack, Mohammad Iqbal; Mindjae, Saindou; Palmyre, Philippe; Ibrahim, Abdul Aziz; Rasamoelina, Harena; Flachet, Loïc; Filleul, Laurent; Cardinale, Eric

2017-01-01

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to human, animal health, and environment worldwide. For human, transmission occurred through a variety of routes both in health-care settings and community. In animals, AMR was reported in livestock, pets, and wildlife; transmission of AMR can be zoonotic with the probably most important route being foodborne transmission. The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), composed of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion (France), and Seychelles recognized the surveillance of AMR in both animal and human as a main public health priority for the region. Mayotte, French overseas territory, located in Comoros archipelago, was also included in this review. This review summarized our best epidemiological knowledge regarding AMR in Indian Ocean. We documented the prevalence, and phenotypic and genotypic profiles of prone to resistance Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria both in animals and humans. Our review clearly pointed out extended-spectrum β-lactamase and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae as main human and animal health issue in IOC. However, publications on AMR are scarce, particularly in Comoros, Mayotte, and Seychelles. Thus, research and surveillance priorities were recommended (i) estimating the volume of antimicrobial drugs used in livestock and human medicine in the different territories [mainly third generation cephalosporin (3GC)]; (ii) developing a "One Health" surveillance approach with epidemiological indicators as zoonotic foodborne pathogen (i.e., couple Escherichia coli resistance to 3GC/carbapenems); (iii) screening travelers with a history of hospitalization and consumption of antibiotic drug returning from at risk areas (e.g., mcr-1 transmission with China or hajj pilgrims) allowing an early warning detection of the emergence for quick control measures implementation in IOC.

Review of Antibiotic Resistance in the Indian Ocean Commission: A Human and Animal Health Issue

PubMed Central

Gay, Noellie; Belmonte, Olivier; Collard, Jean-Marc; Halifa, Mohamed; Issack, Mohammad Iqbal; Mindjae, Saindou; Palmyre, Philippe; Ibrahim, Abdul Aziz; Rasamoelina, Harena; Flachet, Loïc; Filleul, Laurent; Cardinale, Eric

2017-01-01

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to human, animal health, and environment worldwide. For human, transmission occurred through a variety of routes both in health-care settings and community. In animals, AMR was reported in livestock, pets, and wildlife; transmission of AMR can be zoonotic with the probably most important route being foodborne transmission. The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), composed of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion (France), and Seychelles recognized the surveillance of AMR in both animal and human as a main public health priority for the region. Mayotte, French overseas territory, located in Comoros archipelago, was also included in this review. This review summarized our best epidemiological knowledge regarding AMR in Indian Ocean. We documented the prevalence, and phenotypic and genotypic profiles of prone to resistance Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria both in animals and humans. Our review clearly pointed out extended-spectrum β-lactamase and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae as main human and animal health issue in IOC. However, publications on AMR are scarce, particularly in Comoros, Mayotte, and Seychelles. Thus, research and surveillance priorities were recommended (i) estimating the volume of antimicrobial drugs used in livestock and human medicine in the different territories [mainly third generation cephalosporin (3GC)]; (ii) developing a “One Health” surveillance approach with epidemiological indicators as zoonotic foodborne pathogen (i.e., couple Escherichia coli resistance to 3GC/carbapenems); (iii) screening travelers with a history of hospitalization and consumption of antibiotic drug returning from at risk areas (e.g., mcr-1 transmission with China or hajj pilgrims) allowing an early warning detection of the emergence for quick control measures implementation in IOC. PMID:28730149

Assessing the impact of cancer among Dutch non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivors compared with their American counterparts: a cross-national study.

PubMed

Oerlemans, Simone; Smith, Sophia K; Crespi, Catherine M; Zimmerman, Sheryl; van de Poll-Franse, Lonneke V; Ganz, Patricia A

2013-06-01

To understand cultural differences in the impact of cancer (IOC) by (i) performing an independent psychometric evaluation of the Dutch version of the Impact of Cancer Scale version 2 (IOCv2) in a non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) sample and (ii) examining differences between Dutch and American NHL survivors in perceived IOC and identifying associations with socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Data collected from 491 Dutch and 738 American NHL survivors were used in this study. IOCv2 responses were obtained from all survivors; the Dutch survivors also completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core questionnaire, which measures quality of life. Exploratory factor analysis of the Dutch version yielded a factor solution similar to the American structure but with some subscales merging into single factors. Internal consistency was good; Cronbach's alpha was 0.88 for the Positive and 0.94 for the Negative summary scales. Large differences were observed between survivors, whereby Dutch survivors reported fewer Positive (Δ -0.4, p < 0.001, effect size: 0.27) and more Negative (Δ 0.2, p ≤ 0.001, effect size: 0.13) impacts of cancer independent of socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Similar impact domains of the IOCv2 were observed in the Dutch sample, providing evidence that IOCv2 scales measure common and important survivor concerns across two different Western nations. Higher positive impacts for US survivors might be explained by more personal control and availability of supportive services. Future research should focus on determinants of the IOC in both Dutch and American survivors to gain better understanding of the factors that might improve it and suggest how health care may be modified toward that end. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

International ocean services: Is it time - will it ever be time?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holland, Geoffrey

1992-01-01

Considering the objectives of the Ocean Data Climate Workshop this week and trying to select a related, but not too technical subject, I decided to look at the services needed for ocean clients. I thought that it would make an interesting theme to consider how the acceptance of international ocean services is progressing over the years. Or is it? Are we closer to having a global observing system than we were twenty years ago? If so, what has changed between then and now? What is different between the efforts of twenty years or so ago to get the Integrated Global Ocean Stations System (IGOSS) off the ground and the present attempts to establish the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)? Is there a window of opportunity now that didn't exist then? If it doesn't happen now, a legitimate question could well be asked.... Will it ever happen? At least on historical topics I am on firm ground, having been attending IOC meetings for many years, in fact, it was in 1970 that I attended my first IGOSS meeting and a couple of years later I started what was to become regular attendances at the IOC Governing Body sessions. Despite the numbing effect of sitting through IOC related meetings for a total of what must add up to two or three years, I can still defend the IOC as an essential intergovernmental body for the oceans. One can accept the value of medicine, but one doesn't have to enjoy the taste.

Aetiologies of altered states of consciousness: a prospective hospital-based study in a series of 464 patients of northern Tanzania.

PubMed

Winkler, Andrea Sylvia; Tluway, Anthony; Schmutzhard, Erich

2011-01-15

Empirical knowledge suggests that altered states of consciousness are common in sub-Saharan Africa. However, to date prevalence studies are scarce. The study was conducted at the Haydom Lutheran Hospital in northern Tanzania. Over a period of eight months all patients with altered states of consciousness were seen prospectively by a neurologist. The study population was subdivided into patients with acute confusional states (ACS) and those with impairment of consciousness (IOC). Out of 768 patients with neurological/psychiatric diagnoses 464 patients (60.4%) with altered states of consciousness were admitted. 159 patients had ACS (20.7%) and 447 IOC (58.2%). The diagnoses were not mutually exclusive. The most frequent aetiologies were of non-infectious origin. In patients with ACS, non-infectious encephalopathy, psychiatric disorder and dementia made up for 13.8%, 7.6% and 6.9%, respectively. In 25.2% of the cases with ACS, the reason remained obscure. In patients with IOC, the leading causes were epileptic seizures (febrile seizures 20.6% and epilepsy 13.9%) and head trauma 13.9%. Both ACS and IOC carried a bleak prognosis with 26% and 27% in-hospital mortality, respectively. The above data emphasize that altered states of consciousness contribute substantially to morbidity and mortality in a rural African hospital. In our study sample, non-infectious causes represented the leading aetiologies although HIV testing was not available at the time of the study. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Verification of a New NOAA/NSIDC Passive Microwave Sea-Ice Concentration Climate Record

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Meier, Walter N.; Peng, Ge; Scott, Donna J.; Savoie, Matt H.

2014-01-01

A new satellite-based passive microwave sea-ice concentration product developed for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)Climate Data Record (CDR) programme is evaluated via comparison with other passive microwave-derived estimates. The new product leverages two well-established concentration algorithms, known as the NASA Team and Bootstrap, both developed at and produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The sea ice estimates compare well with similar GSFC products while also fulfilling all NOAA CDR initial operation capability (IOC) requirements, including (1) self describing file format, (2) ISO 19115-2 compliant collection-level metadata,(3) Climate and Forecast (CF) compliant file-level metadata, (4) grid-cell level metadata (data quality fields), (5) fully automated and reproducible processing and (6) open online access to full documentation with version control, including source code and an algorithm theoretical basic document. The primary limitations of the GSFC products are lack of metadata and use of untracked manual corrections to the output fields. Smaller differences occur from minor variations in processing methods by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (for the CDR fields) and NASA (for the GSFC fields). The CDR concentrations do have some differences from the constituent GSFC concentrations, but trends and variability are not substantially different.

Supporting Data for FY 1990/1991 Biennial Budget: Budget Estimates Descriptive Summaries Submitted to Congress January 1989, Research, Development, Test & Evaluation, Navy

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-01-01

necessitate de -emphasizing network interface demonstrations in favor of real-time network interface technologies and slip ICEX demonstration of...Aperture Radar target classi- fication and Fault Diagnosis issues. o Demonstrate a complete, transportable , fully functional software engineering...BLK 3 MS 3B 109D MS 3A Blk 3 MS 2 TASM Milestones MS 3A 109D IOC Flex Upgrade MS 3B SW-3 MS 3B Blk 3 IOC Blk 3 Engineering Eng Dev Eng Dev DES Rev

Science and payload options for animal and plant research accommodations aboard the early Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilchey, John D.; Arno, Roger D.; Gustan, Edith; Rudiger, C. E.

1986-01-01

The resources to be allocated for the development of the Initial Operational Capability (IOC) Space Station Animal and Plant Research Facility and the Growth Station Animal and Plant Vivarium and Laboratory may be limited; also, IOC accommodations for animal and plant research may be limited. An approach is presented for the development of Initial Research Capability Minilabs for animal and plant studies, which in appropriate combination and sequence can meet requirements for an evolving program of research within available accommodations and anticipated budget constraints.

Defense AT&L. Volume 43, Number 6, November-December 2014

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-01

ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S) 11 . SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S...Agency. The basic idea was to combine wide-area surveillance, networked Com- mand, Control and Communications , and precision munitions into an...start to IOC. In 1996, this metric had grown to 11 years. A more recent Government Accountability Office study (GAO-14-145T) highlighted that the

Psychometric Evaluation of an Adolescent and Young Adult Module of the Impact of Cancer Instrument.

PubMed

Husson, Olga; Zebrack, Bradley J

2017-03-01

To develop and evaluate a new instrument that measures unique aspects of long-term survivorship for people diagnosed with cancer as Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA), not measured by existing tools. A new candidate instrument-the Impact of Cancer for Adolescent and Young Adult (IOC-AYA) cancer survivors-was developed and administered to AYA cancer survivors aged 18-35 years who were 15-29 years old when diagnosed with cancer. Psychometric properties of newly derived scales were assessed. Factor analyses of items derived seven new and specific subscales: Social Life; Uncertainties, Worries and Wonders; Cognitive Function; Sense of Purpose/Life Goals; Identity; Health Behaviors; and Health Literacy. Two separate and conditional subscales were formed: Relationship Concerns (partnered/unpartnered) and Having Children (at least one child/no children). Internal consistency measurements for these subscales ranged from 0.70 to 0.90. Expected associations within and among IOC-AYA subscales and standardized measures of quality of life were observed. Psychometric analyses indicated that this initial version of the IOC-AYA measures distinct and relevant constructs for survivors diagnosed with cancer in adolescence and young adulthood. Future work is needed to confirm the responsiveness to change and further validate the instrument in multiple and representative samples. Use of the IOC-AYA instrument in research and clinical practice will inform the development of psychosocial and supportive care interventions that not only minimize or prevent long-term deleterious effects of cancer but also promote positive adaptation, resilience, and the achievement of age-specific developmental tasks.

Update on nandrolone and norsteroids: how endogenous or xenobiotic are these substances?

PubMed

Bricout, V; Wright, F

2004-06-01

Norsteroids are xenobiotics with androgenic and anabolic properties known since as far back as the 1930s. In doping controls, the use of the banned xenobiotic norsteroids is detected in the competitor's urines by the measurement of norandrosterone (19-NA) and noretiocholanolone (19-NE), which are the main metabolites for nandrolone (NT) and most norsteroids with anabolic properties. In 1996, the IOC subcommission "Doping and Biochemistry of Sport" informed the Heads of the "IOC Accredited Laboratories" that the recommended cut-off limit for reporting an offence was to be 1-2 ng ml(-1) urine for either 19-NA or 19-NE. We will discuss how technical progress in gas chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry permitted a dramatic increase in sensitivity with a detection limit of 1 pg ml(-1) urine, or less, and an assay limit of 20-50 pg ml(-1) urine, for either 19-NA or 19-NE. As a paradox, norsteroids have been known for decades as not only xenobiotics but also obligatory endogenous intermediates in the biosynthesis of estrogens from androgens in all species, man included. It is this biochemical observation which fed the active scientific and medical controversy initiated in 1998 over the possibly endogenous production of nandrolone and metabolites well over the new IOC's recommended cut-off limit of 2 ng ml(-1) urine. Notwithstanding the particular technical difficulties attached, we will provide data and discuss the minute endogenous levels detected and measured in man either at rest, after performance or training and compare them to the relatively high levels reported in male athlete's doping controls today. We will also discuss data on the pharmacological effects of some contraceptive therapies containing norsteroids in women. In view of the well-documented noxious effects repeatedly observed after anabolic steroid misuse, the confirmation and implementation of technically proven procedures for reporting norsteroid abuse in sports seems an important enough goal to protect athlete's health against such abuses and justifies up dating the review of the patent scientific and medical experience and knowledge gained over the last 50 years on nandrolone and its minor production in man and woman.

Standard and reference materials for marine science. Third edition. Technical memo

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cantillo, A.Y.

1992-08-01

The third edition of the catalog of reference materials suited for use in marine science, originally compiled in 1986 for NOAA, IOC, and UNEP. The catalog lists close to 2,000 reference materials from sixteen producers and contains information about their proper use, sources, availability, and analyte concentrations. Indices are included for elements, isotopes, and organic compounds, as are cross references to CAS registry numbers, alternate names, and chemical structures of selected organic compounds. The catalog is being published independently by both NOAA and IOC/UNEP and is available from NOAA/NOS/ORCA in electronic form.

NAS-current status and future plans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, F. R.

1987-01-01

The Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS) has met its first major milestone, the NAS Processing System Network (NPSN) Initial Operating Configuration (IOC). The program has met its goal of providing a national supercomputer facility capable of greatly enhancing the Nation's research and development efforts. Furthermore, the program is fulfilling its pathfinder role by defining and implementing a paradigm for supercomputing system environments. The IOC is only the begining and the NAS Program will aggressively continue to develop and implement emerging supercomputer, communications, storage, and software technologies to strengthen computations as a critical element in supporting the Nation's leadership role in aeronautics.

MODBUS APPLICATION AT JEFFERSON LAB

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan, Jianxun; Seaton, Chad; Philip, Sarin

Modbus is a client/server communication model. In our applications, the embedded Ethernet device XPort is designed as the server and a SoftIOC running EPICS Modbus is the client. The SoftIOC builds a Modbus request from parameter contained in a demand that is sent by the EPICS application to the Modbus Client interface. On reception of the Modbus request, the Modbus server activates a local action to read, write, or achieve some other action. So, the main Modbus server functions are to wait for a Modbus request on 502 TCP port, treat this request, and then build a Modbus response.

The results of a limited study of approaches to the design, fabrication, and testing of a dynamic model of the NASA IOC space station. Executive summary

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brooks, George W.

1985-01-01

The options for the design, construction, and testing of a dynamic model of the space station were evaluated. Since the definition of the space station structure is still evolving, the Initial Operating Capacity (IOC) reference configuration was used as the general guideline. The results of the studies treat: general considerations of the need for and use of a dynamic model; factors which deal with the model design and construction; and a proposed system for supporting the dynamic model in the planned Large Spacecraft Laboratory.

Space Station crew safety alternatives study. Volume 2: Threat development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raasch, R. F.; Peercy, R. L., Jr.; Rockoff, L. A.

1985-01-01

The first 15 years of accumulated space station concepts for initial operational capability (IOC) during the early 1990's were considered. Twenty-five threats to the space station are identified and selected threats addressed as impacting safety criteria, escape and rescue, and human factors safety concerns. Of the 25 threats identified, eight are discussed including strategy options for threat control: fire, biological or toxic contamination, injury/illness, explosion, loss of pressurization, radiation, meteoroid penetration, and debris.

Space station crew safety alternatives study, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peercy, R. L., Jr.; Raasch, R. F.; Rockoff, L. A.

1985-01-01

The first 15 years of accumulated space station concepts for initial operational capability (IOC) during the early 1990's were considered. Twenty-five threats to the space station are identified and selected threats addressed as impacting safety criteria, escape and rescue, and human factors safety concerns. Of the 25 threats identified, eight are discussed including strategy options for threat control: fire, biological or toxic contamination, injury/illness, explosion, loss of pressurization, radiation, meteoroid penetration and debris.

Aircraft Material Fire Test Handbook

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-09-01

becomes extinguished for any period that exceeds 3 sec. A circuit for a satisfactory device is sketched in Figure 5-4. 5.3.8.2 Upper Pilot Burner An...34A model 470 Series Power controller manufactured by Eurotherm, a Model 3AEV 1B IOC I Triac manufactured by General Electric Co, or equivalent have...Compartment (galley or lavatory module ) An enclosure or shell structure with access provisions, such as a waste chute opening or doors, designed for

Measuring Development of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Patients: An Integrative Review of Available Instruments.

PubMed

Bell, Cynthia J; Bell, Ryan A; Zebrack, Brad; Kato, Ikuko; Morse, Alyssa; Borinstein, Scott C

2018-06-01

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) 15-39 years old face unique challenges during cancer treatment as developmental and social needs are often disrupted to achieve cure. Developmentally appropriate supportive care for AYAs across the cancer trajectory is needed. The purpose of this review is to identify and describe instruments that measure AYA development across physical, psychological, and social domains, commenting on the instruments' psychometric properties and usefulness in clinical practice and research. A computerized literature search published in English from 1950 to January of 2017 was conducted utilizing the following databases: Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY), Health and Psychosocial Instruments, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. The following instruments were identified and described: the Child Health and Illness Profile-Adolescent Edition (CHIP-AE); the Course of Life Questionnaire; the Developmental Task Questionnaire (DTQ); the Impact of Cancer scale for childhood survivors and AYAs (IOC-CS and IOC-AYA); the McCleery Scale of Adolescent Development (MSAD); and the Minneapolis-Manchester Quality of Life Adolescent and Young Adult Form (MMQL-AF and MMQL-YA). Among currently available instruments, the IOC-AYA and MMQL-AF were relevant to AYAs undergoing or completing cancer therapy. However, validation for the IOC-AYA occurred in cancer survivors off treatment so further psychometric evaluation is needed in AYAs currently undergoing cancer treatment. Furthermore, the MMQL-AF has been validated for use during active cancer treatment, but is limited to adolescents 13-20 years. Further research may be needed to create or refine instruments measuring the developmental impact in AYAs, particularly emerging adults undergoing active cancer treatment.

A small-scale land-sparing approach to conserving biological diversity in tropical agricultural landscapes.

PubMed

Chandler, Richard B; King, David I; Raudales, Raul; Trubey, Richard; Chandler, Carlin; Chávez, Víctor Julio Arce

2013-08-01

Two contrasting strategies have been proposed for conserving biological diversity while meeting the increasing demand for agricultural products: land sparing and land sharing production systems. Land sparing involves increasing yield to reduce the amount of land needed for agriculture, whereas land-sharing agricultural practices incorporate elements of native ecosystems into the production system itself. Although the conservation value of these systems has been extensively debated, empirical studies are lacking. We compared bird communities in shade coffee, a widely practiced land-sharing system in which shade trees are maintained within the coffee plantation, with bird communities in a novel, small-scale, land-sparing coffee-production system (integrated open canopy or IOC coffee) in which farmers obtain higher yields under little or no shade while conserving an area of forest equal to the area under cultivation. Species richness and diversity of forest-dependent birds were higher in the IOC coffee farms than in the shade coffee farms, and community composition was more similar between IOC coffee and primary forest than between shade coffee and primary forest. Our study represents the first empirical comparison of well-defined land sparing and land sharing production systems. Because IOC coffee farms can be established by allowing forest to regenerate on degraded land, widespread adoption of this system could lead to substantial increases in forest cover and carbon sequestration without compromising agricultural yield or threatening the livelihoods of traditional small farmers. However, we studied small farms (<5 ha); thus, our results may not generalize to large-scale land-sharing systems. Furthermore, rather than concluding that land sparing is generally superior to land sharing, we suggest that the optimal approach depends on the crop, local climate, and existing land-use patterns. © 2013 Society for Conservation Biology.

Biliary tract visualization using near-infrared imaging with indocyanine green during laparoscopic cholecystectomy: results of a systematic review.

PubMed

Vlek, S L; van Dam, D A; Rubinstein, S M; de Lange-de Klerk, E S M; Schoonmade, L J; Tuynman, J B; Meijerink, W J H J; Ankersmit, M

2017-07-01

Near-infrared imaging with indocyanine green (ICG) has been extensively investigated during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). However, methods vary between studies, especially regarding patient selection, dosage and timing. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the potential of the near-infrared imaging technique with ICG to identify biliary structures during LC. A comprehensive systematic literature search was performed. Prospective trials examining the use of ICG during LC were included. Primary outcome was biliary tract visualization. Risk of bias was assessed using ROBINS-I. Secondly, a meta-analysis was performed comparing ICG to intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) for identification of biliary structures. GRADE was used to assess the quality of the evidence. Nineteen studies were included. Based upon the pooled data from 13 studies, cystic duct (Lusch et al. in J Endourol 28:261-266, 2014) visualization was 86.5% (95% CI 71.2-96.6%) prior to dissection of Calot's triangle with a 2.5-mg dosage of ICG and 96.5% (95% CI 93.9-98.4%) after dissection. The results were not appreciably different when the dosage was based upon bodyweight. There is moderate quality evidence that the CD is more frequently visualized using ICG than IOC (RR 1.16; 95% CI 1.00-1.35); however, this difference was not statistically significant. This systematic review provides equal results for biliary tract visualization with near-infrared imaging with ICG during LC compared to IOC. Near-infrared imaging with ICG has the potential to replace IOC for biliary mapping. However, methods of near-infrared imaging with ICG vary. Future research is necessary for optimization and standardization of the near-infrared ICG technique.

Metal oxide/hydroxide-coated dual-media filter for simultaneous removal of bacteria and heavy metals from natural waters.

PubMed

Ahammed, M Mansoor; Meera, V

2010-09-15

The present study was conducted to compare the performance of a dual-media filter consisting of manganese oxide-coated (MOCS) and iron hydroxide-coated sand (IOCS) with that of IOCS filter and uncoated sand filter in treating water contaminated by microorganisms, heavy metals and turbidity with a view to its use in simple household water purification devices in developing countries. Long-duration column tests were conducted using two natural waters namely, roof-harvested rainwater and canal water. Performance of the filters showed that dual-media filter was more efficient in removing bacteria and heavy metals compared to IOCS filter, while uncoated sand filter showed very poor performance. The average effluent levels for dual-media filter when tested with rainwater were: turbidity 1.0+/-0.1 NTU; total coliforms 3+/-2 MPN/100 mL; heterotrophic plate count 170+/-20 CFU/mL; zinc 0.06+/-0.01 mg/L, while that for IOCS filter were: turbidity 1.0+/-0.1 NTU; total coliforms 4+/-2 MPN/100 mL; heterotrophic plate count 181+/-37 CFU/mL; zinc 0.20+/-0.07 mg/L. Similar results were obtained for canal water also. Up to 900 bed volumes (BV) could be treated without affecting the efficiency in the case of rainwater, while the filter operation had to be terminated after 500 BV due to excessive headloss in the case of canal water. The study thus showed the potential of the dual-media for use in low-cost household water filters for purification of natural waters. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The ac power system testbed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mildice, J.; Sundberg, R.

1987-01-01

The object of this program was to design, build, test, and deliver a high frequency (20 kHz) Power System Testbed which would electrically approximate a single, separable power channel of an IOC Space Station. That program is described, including the technical background, and the results are discussed showing that the major assumptions about the characteristics of this class of hardware (size, mass, efficiency, control, etc.) were substantially correct. This testbed equipment was completed and delivered and is being operated as part of the Space Station Power System Test Facility.

Field Surveys, IOC Valleys. Volumes II-I and II-II. Biological Resources Survey, Dry Lake Valley, Nevada and Pine and Wah Wah Valleys, Utah. Supplement. Spring Survey of the IOC Valleys.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

pinnata X K CACTACEAE Coryphantha vivipara x Opuntia echinocarpa K 0 x K K K 5putaerinacea K Op’untia sp. x X -12- TABLE 3-1 (Cont.) Shelter site...pilosus x Lepidium montanun X CACTACEAE Opuntia echinocarpa x x Opuntia erinacea X X X CHENOPODIACEAE Atriplex canescens X X X Ceratoides lanata X X X X...Stanleya pinnata X CACTACEAE Coryphantha vivipara var. rosea X Echinocereus engelmannii X opuntia echinocarpa X X X X X X X X Opuntia erinacea XX X X X X x

Synthesis of iron oxyhydroxide-coated rice straw (IOC-RS) and its application in arsenic(V) removal from water.

PubMed

Ouédraogo, Igor W K; Pehlivan, Erol; Tran, Hien T; Bonzi-Coulibaly, Yvonne L; Zachmann, Dieter; Bahadir, Müfit

2015-09-01

Because of the recognition that arsenic (As) at low concentrations in drinking water causes severe health effects, the technologies of As removal have become increasingly important. In this study, a simplified and effective method was used to immobilize iron oxyhydroxide onto a pretreated naturally occurring rice straw (RS). The modified RS adsorbent was characterized, using scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyzer, and surface area analyzer. Experimental batch data of As(V) adsorption were modeled by the isotherms and kinetics models. Although all isotherms, the Langmuir model fitted the equilibrium data better than Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich models and confirmed the surface homogeneity of adsorbent. The iron oxyhydroxide-coated rice straw (IOC-RS) was found to be effective for the removal of As(V) with 98.5% sorption efficiency at a concentration of <50 mg/L of As(V) solution, and thus maximum uptake capacity is ∼22 and 20 mg As(V)/g of IOC-RS at pH 4 and 6, respectively. The present study might provide new avenues to achieve the As concentrations required for drinking water recommended by the World Health Organization.

The Eastern Québec Telepathology Network: a three-year experience of clinical diagnostic services

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The Eastern Quebec Telepathology Network (called Réseau de Télépathologie de l'Est du Québec in French) was created to provide uniform diagnostic telepathology services in a huge territory with low population density. We report our first 3-year experience. Methods The network was funded equally by the Québec ministry of Health and Canada Health Infoway, a federal telehealth funding agency. The coverage includes intraoperative consultations (IOC), expert opinions, urgent analyses and supervision of macroscopic description. The deployment of the equipment and software started in 2010 and clinical activities began in January 2011. This network comprises 24 hospitals providing oncologic surgery, of which 7 have no pathology laboratory and 4 have a pathology laboratory but no pathologist. The real-time gross evaluation during IOC was performed using a macroscopy station and the sample selection was performed distantly by a technician, a pathology assistant or the surgeon under on-site pathologist supervision. Slides were scanned into whole-slide images (WSI). Results As per March 2014, 7,440 slides had been scanned for primary/urgent diagnosis; 1,329 for IOC cases and 2,308 for expert opinions. A 98% concordance rate was found for IOC compared to paraffin material and the average turnaround time was 20 minutes. Expert opinion reports were signed out within 24 hours in 68% of cases and within 72 hours in 85%. A recent multi-method evaluation study of the Network demonstrated that, thanks to telepathology: 1. interruption of IOC service was prevented in hospitals with no pathologist on site; 2. two-stage surgeries and patients transfers were prevented according to surgeons and pathologists; 3. retention and recruitment of surgeons in remote hospitals were facilitated; and 4. professional isolation among pathologists working alone was reduced. This study also demonstrated that wider adoption of telepathology would require technological improvement and that the sustainability of the network requires better coordination and the development of a supra-regional pathology organisation. Conclusion The Eastern Quebec Telepathology Network allowed the maintenance of rapid and high quality pathology services in more than 20 sites disseminated on a huge territory. A second phase is underway to expand telepathology to other regions across the province. PMID:25564940

Automated subsystems control development. [for life support systems of space station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Block, R. F.; Heppner, D. B.; Samonski, F. H., Jr.; Lance, N., Jr.

1985-01-01

NASA has the objective to launch a Space Station in the 1990s. It has been found that the success of the Space Station engineering development, the achievement of initial operational capability (IOC), and the operation of a productive Space Station will depend heavily on the implementation of an effective automation and control approach. For the development of technology needed to implement the required automation and control function, a contract entitled 'Automated Subsystems Control for Life Support Systems' (ASCLSS) was awarded to two American companies. The present paper provides a description of the ASCLSS program. Attention is given to an automation and control architecture study, a generic automation and control approach for hardware demonstration, a standard software approach, application of Air Revitalization Group (ARG) process simulators, and a generic man-machine interface.

Brief History of Anti-Doping.

PubMed

Ljungqvist, Arne

2017-01-01

The fight against doping in sport as we know it today commenced by the creation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical Commission in 1961 following the death of a Danish cyclist during the Rome Olympic Games the year before. After a slow start, the fight got under way as from the early 1970s under the leadership of the IOC and of the International Association of Athletics Federations. Despite a lack of understanding and weak support even from the sports community, a series of measures were taken during the 1970s and 1980s which still form cornerstones of today's anti-doping strategy. In addition to information and education campaigns, the most important examples are the introduction of procedural rules for doping controls, the establishment and follow-up of a list of prohibited substances and methods, the accreditation of doping control laboratories, the introduction of in- and out-of-competition testing, rules for therapeutic use exemption, and the introduction of blood sampling. During the 1990s, the anti-doping fight gained increasing support both inside and outside the sport community. In order to harmonize the wide variety of rules that had developed both in sport organizations and at the domestic level and to promote anti-doping activities, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was jointly created by the Olympic movement and the public authorities in 1999. WADA is today carrying on the fight supported by the universally accepted WADA Code and an International Anti-Doping Convention under UNESCO. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Prevalence of doping in sports: doping control in Norway, 1977-1995.

PubMed

Bahr, R; Tjørnhom, M

1998-01-01

To examine the results from doping controls conducted by the Norwegian Confederation of Sport (NCS) from 1977 to 1995. Data were collected by combining three computerized databases and manual records on samples taken and results from analyses in the International Olympic Committee (IOC)-accredited laboratories in London, Huddinge, Cologne, and Oslo. Samples were declared positive if they contained any banned substance on the IOC list that was in effect at any given time. A total of 15,208 samples were taken; most of them (12,870; 85%) were from Norwegian athletes (90% unannounced tests) belonging to national federations under NCS jurisdiction (NCS members), 461 (3%) were from external Norwegian athletes (either users of private gyms or athletes in organized sports federations not affiliated with the NCS), and 1,874 (12%) were from foreign athletes (three cases with unknown affiliation). There were 130 positive samples and 24 refusals among NCS members (1.2%; men, 1.4%; women, 0.3%), 86 positive samples and 8 refusals among external Norwegian athletes (20%; men, 24%; women, 8%), and 39 positive samples and 1 refusal among foreign athletes (1.6%; men, 2.1%; women, 0.7%). A gradual decrease in the percentage of positive samples was observed among NCS members as testing frequency was increased gradually from 1987 to 1995 in the three high-prevalence sports: powerlifting, weightlifting, and athletics. An increase in the test frequency of doping tests was associated with a decrease in the percentage of positive samples in targeted sports.

Space Station Engineering and Technology Development. Proceedings of the Panel on Program Performance and Onboard Mission Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1985-01-01

An ad-hoc committee was asked to review the following questions relevant to the space station program: (1) onboard maintainability and repair; (2) in-space research and technology program and facility plans; (3) solar thermodynamic research and technology development program planning; (4) program performance (cost estimating, management, and cost avoidance); (5) onboard versus ground-based mission control; and (6) technology development road maps from IOC to the growth station. The objective of these new assignments is to provide NASA with advice on ways and means for improving the content, performance, and/or effectiveness of these elements of the space station program.

Exercise and pregnancy in recreational and elite athletes: 2016 evidence summary from the IOC expert group meeting, Lausanne. Part 2-the effect of exercise on the fetus, labour and birth.

PubMed

Bø, Kari; Artal, Raul; Barakat, Ruben; Brown, Wendy; Dooley, Michael; Evenson, Kelly R; Haakstad, Lene A H; Larsen, Karin; Kayser, Bengt; Kinnunen, Tarja I; Mottola, Michelle F; Nygaard, Ingrid; van Poppel, Mireille; Stuge, Britt; Davies, Gregory A L

2016-10-12

This is Part 2 of 5 in the series of evidence statements from the IOC expert committee on exercise and pregnancy in recreational and elite athletes. Part 1 focused on the effects of training during pregnancy and on the management of common pregnancy-related symptoms experienced by athletes. In Part 2, we focus on maternal and fetal perinatal outcomes. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

A new approach to UNESCO-IOC Post-Tsunami Field Surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, L. S.; Steffen, J.; Dominey-Howes, D.; Biukoto, L.; Titimaea, A.; Thaman, R.; Vaa, R.

2009-12-01

The International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST-Samoa, Oct 14-23, 2009), and the Report presented to the Government of Samoa (GoS) immediately upon conclusion, was an unprecedented science effort, setting a benchmark for future coordinated international post-tsunami science surveys that will support national early recovery efforts, and through tsunami research, improve tsunami mitigation and preparedness and so build a stronger resilience of coastal communities. By working together, we achieved outcomes much stronger and more valuable than any one of us could produce alone. For the first time, strong principles of professional conduct, mutual respect, collaboration, partnership, and concern for the welfare of the affected communities, were explictly embeded in the work plan. The 29 September 2009 regional tsunami resulted in loss of life and damage to human infrastructure and environmental systems. Common to many tsunamis, international scientists expressed the intent to undertake science assessments. Traditionally, these surveys, sometimes under UNESCO-IOC auspices, have been single-discipline, and conducted individually with moderate government coordination, so that afterward, the country was left with a large integration task to produce a single coherent study. This changed in Samoa, where an integrated and coordinated approach emerged. The ITST-Samoa was comprised of more than 60 scientists (seismologists, geologists, engineers, social scientists, modellers) from Australia, Fiji, French-Polynesia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and USA who volunteered to work in collaboration with the GoS, Samoa Red Cross Society, Samoa scientists, and non-government representatives. They worked as one survey team to collect data and assist the GoS to prioritise short- and long-term risk reduction strategies. Their novel work (1) partnered with a regional university to include South Pacific expertise and with the GoS to ensure that (a) international scientists worked in a culturally-sensitive and appropriate way and, (b) outputs achieved were relevant to both GoS and ITST scientists; (2) was interdisciplinary and multisectoral to capture a thorough understanding; and (3) used a ‘coupled human-environment systems framework’ to examine vulnerability and resilience before, during and after the tsunami. ITST succeeded because of (1) the scientists’ strong desire to share their knowledge; (2) GoS’s belief that science will improve disaster risk reduction practices; (3) immediate engagement of UN and regional organizations to provide an umbrella framework for working together; (4) local support to provide the ITST’s command center and; (5) dedicated Science Coordinators to manage the scientific planning, logistics, information sharing, and Report preparation. In 2010, UNESCO/IOC will revise its Post-Tsunami Field Survey Guide to document ITST-Samoa best practices and so provide guidance for future International Tsunami Survey Teams.

Interorganizational collaboration for health care between nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Pakistan.

PubMed

Gulzar, Laila; Henry, Beverly

2005-11-01

The complexity and cost of health systems requires innovative forms of organization to provide accessible health services of an acceptable quality and at an acceptable cost. Interorganizational collaboration (IoC) is an innovation to increase the availability of organizational resources, improve service effectiveness, and improve access to health care. In Pakistan, a weak health system and little collaboration limit access, especially of women and children, to health services. Many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) provide primary health care to the very poor, and some appear to collaborate to varying degrees; however, this has not been systematically analyzed. The purpose of this qualitative research, the first scientific study of collaboration between NGOs providing health services in Pakistan, was to describe collaboration between three pairs of NGOs providing community-based health services to women in Karachi. A long-term goal is to build a basis for future research linking IoC to access to health care and health outcomes. Findings indicated that collaboration was strongest when there was willingness to cooperate, a need for expertise and funds, and adaptive efficiency. In Pakistan's complex social environment, collaboration tended to be stronger when there was fairly high organizational formalization. Broader IoC appears to be positively associated with women's access to health care. Recommendations are made for future research, education, and management.

AC power system breadboard

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wappes, Loran J.; Sundberg, R.; Mildice, J.; Peterson, D.; Hushing, S.

1987-01-01

The object of this program was to design, build, test, and deliver a high-frequency (20-kHz) Power System Breadboard which would electrically approximate a pair of dual redundant power channels of an IOC Space Station. This report describes that program, including the technical background, and discusses the results, showing that the major assumptions about the characteristics of this class of hardware (size, mass, efficiency, control, etc.) were substantially correct. This testbed equipment has been completed and delivered to LeRC, where it is operating as a part of the Space Station Power System Test Facility.

NASA Enterprise Managed Cloud Computing (EMCC): Delivering an Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for NASA use of Commercial Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

O'Brien, Raymond

2017-01-01

In 2016, Ames supported the NASA CIO in delivering an initial operating capability for Agency use of commercial cloud computing. This presentation provides an overview of the project, the services approach followed, and the major components of the capability that was delivered. The presentation is being given at the request of Amazon Web Services to a contingent representing the Brazilian Federal Government and Defense Organization that is interested in the use of Amazon Web Services (AWS). NASA is currently a customer of AWS and delivered the Initial Operating Capability using AWS as its first commercial cloud provider. The IOC, however, designed to also support other cloud providers in the future.

Space Tug systems study. Volume 2: Compendium

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

Possible storable propellant configurations and program plans are evaluated for the space tug. Alternatives examined include: use of existing expendable stages modified for use with shuttle, followed by a space tug at a later date; use of a modified growth version of existing expendable stages for greater performance and potential reuse, followed by a space tug at a later date; use of a low development cost, reusable, interim space tug available at shuttle initial operational capability (IOC) that could be evolved to greater system capabilities at a later date; and use a direct developed tug with maximum potential to be available at some specified time after space shuttle IOC. The capability options were narrowed down to three final options for detailed program definition.

Cellulosic ethanol production via consolidated bioprocessing by a novel thermophilic anaerobic bacterium isolated from a Himalayan hot spring.

PubMed

Singh, Nisha; Mathur, Anshu S; Tuli, Deepak K; Gupta, Ravi P; Barrow, Colin J; Puri, Munish

2017-01-01

Cellulose-degrading thermophilic anaerobic bacterium as a suitable host for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) has been proposed as an economically suited platform for the production of second-generation biofuels. To recognize the overall objective of CBP, fermentation using co-culture of different cellulolytic and sugar-fermenting thermophilic anaerobic bacteria has been widely studied as an approach to achieving improved ethanol production. We assessed monoculture and co-culture fermentation of novel thermophilic anaerobic bacterium for ethanol production from real substrates under controlled conditions. In this study, Clostridium sp. DBT-IOC-C19, a cellulose-degrading thermophilic anaerobic bacterium, was isolated from the cellulolytic enrichment cultures obtained from a Himalayan hot spring. Strain DBT-IOC-C19 exhibited a broad substrate spectrum and presented single-step conversion of various cellulosic and hemicellulosic substrates to ethanol, acetate, and lactate with ethanol being the major fermentation product. Additionally, the effect of varying cellulose concentrations on the fermentation performance of the strain was studied, indicating a maximum cellulose utilization ability of 10 g L -1 cellulose. Avicel degradation kinetics of the strain DBT-IOC-C19 displayed 94.6% degradation at 5 g L -1 and 82.74% degradation at 10 g L -1 avicel concentration within 96 h of fermentation. In a comparative study with Clostridium thermocellum DSM 1313, the ethanol and total product concentrations were higher by the newly isolated strain on pretreated rice straw at an equivalent substrate loading. Three different co-culture combinations were used on various substrates that presented two-fold yield improvement than the monoculture during batch fermentation. This study demonstrated the direct fermentation ability of the novel thermophilic anaerobic bacteria on various cellulosic and hemicellulosic substrates into ethanol without the aid of any exogenous enzymes, representing CBP-based fermentation approach. Here, the broad substrate utilization spectrum of isolated cellulolytic thermophilic anaerobic bacterium was shown to be of potential utility. We demonstrated that the co-culture strategy involving novel strains is efficient in improving ethanol production from real substrate.

Oxidation of adsorbed ferrous iron: kinetics and influence of process conditions.

PubMed

Buamah, R; Petrusevski, B; Schippers, J C

2009-01-01

For the removal of iron from groundwater, aeration followed with rapid (sand) filtration is frequently applied. Iron removal in this process is achieved through oxidation of Fe(2 + ) in aqueous solution followed by floc formation as well as adsorption of Fe(2 + ) onto the filter media. The rate of oxidation of the adsorbed Fe(2 + ) on the filter media plays an important role in this removal process. This study focuses on investigating the effect of pH on the rate of oxidation of adsorbed Fe(2 + ). Fe(2 + ) has been adsorbed, under anoxic conditions, on iron oxide coated sand (IOCS) in a short filter column and subsequently oxidized by feeding the column with aerated water. Ferrous ions adsorbed at pH 5, 6, 7 and 8 demonstrated consumption of oxygen, when aerated water was fed into the column. The oxygen uptake at pH 7 and 8 was faster than at pH 5 and 6. However the difference was less pronounced than expected. The difference is attributed to the pH buffering effect of the IOCS. At feedwater pH 5, 6 and 7 the pH in the effluent was higher than in the influent, while a pH drop should occur because of oxidation of adsorbed Fe(2 + ). At pH 8, the pH dropped. These phenomena are attributed to the presence of calcium and /or ferrous carbonate in IOCS.

Space station crew safety alternatives study. Volume 3: Safety impact of human factors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rockoff, L. A.; Raasch, R. F.; Peercy, R. L., Jr.

1985-01-01

The first 15 years of accumulated space station concepts for Initial Operational Capability (IOC) during the early 1990's was considered. Twenty-five threats to the space station are identified and selected threats addressed as impacting safety criteria, escape and rescue, and human factors safety concerns. Of the 25 threats identified, eight are discussed including strategy options for threat control: fire, biological or toxic contamination, injury/illness, explosion, loss of pressurization, radiation, meteoroid penetration and debris. Of particular interest here is volume three (of five volumes) pertaining to the safety impact of human factors.

Technical Requirements Analysis and Control Systems (TRACS) Initial Operating Capability (IOC) documentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hammond, Dana P.

1991-01-01

The Technical Requirements Analysis and Control Systems (TRACS) software package is described. TRACS offers supplemental tools for the analysis, control, and interchange of project requirements. This package provides the fundamental capability to analyze and control requirements, serves a focal point for project requirements, and integrates a system that supports efficient and consistent operations. TRACS uses relational data base technology (ORACLE) in a stand alone or in a distributed environment that can be used to coordinate the activities required to support a project through its entire life cycle. TRACS uses a set of keyword and mouse driven screens (HyperCard) which imposes adherence through a controlled user interface. The user interface provides an interactive capability to interrogate the data base and to display or print project requirement information. TRACS has a limited report capability, but can be extended with PostScript conventions.

Environmental Control and Life Support Systems technology options for Space Station application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, J. B., Jr.; Ferebee, M. J., Jr.; Sage, K. H.

1985-01-01

Continuous assessments regarding the suitability of candidate technologies for manned Space Stations will be needed over the next several years to obtain a basis for recommending the optimum system for an Initial Operating Capability (IOC) Space Station which is to be launched in the early 1990's. This paper has the objective to present analysis programs, the candidate recommendations, and the recommended approach for integration these candidates into the NASA Space Station reference configuration. Attention is given to ECLSS (Environmental Control and Life Support System) technology assessment program, an analysis approach for candidate technology recommendations, mission model variables, a candidate integration program, metabolic oxygen recovery, urine/flush water and all waste water recovery, wash water and condensate water recovery, and an integration analysis.

Smoke Rings: Towards a Comprehensive Tobacco Free Policy for the Olympic Games.

PubMed

Lee, Kelley; Fooks, Gary; Wander, Nathaniel; Fang, Jennifer

2015-01-01

The tobacco industry has long sought affiliation with major sporting events, including the Olympic Games, for marketing, advertising and promotion purposes. Since 1988, each Olympic Games has adopted a tobacco-free policy. Limited study of the effectiveness of the smoke-free policy has been undertaken to date, with none examining the tobacco industry's involvement with the Olympics or use of the Olympic brand. A comparison of the contents of Olympic tobacco-free policies from 1988 to 2014 was carried out by searching the websites of the IOC and host NOCs. The specific tobacco control measures adopted for each Games were compiled and compared with measures recommended by the WHO Tobacco Free Sports Initiative and Article 13 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). This was supported by semi-structured interviews of key informants involved with the adoption of tobacco-free policies for selected games. To understand the industry's interests in the Olympics, the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu) was systematically searched between June 2013 and August 2014. Company websites, secondary sources and media reports were also searched to triangulate the above data sources. This paper finds that, while most direct associations between tobacco and the Olympics have been prohibited since 1988, a variety of indirect associations undermine the Olympic tobacco-free policy. This is due to variation in the scope of tobacco-free policies, limited jurisdiction and continued efforts by the industry to be associated with Olympic ideals. The paper concludes that, compatible with the IOC's commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles, a comprehensive tobacco-free policy with standardized and binding measures should be adopted by the International Olympic Committee and all national Olympic committees.

Global Temperature and Salinity Pilot Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Searle, Ben

1992-01-01

Data exchange and data management programs have been evolving over many years. Within the international community there are two main programs to support the exchange, management and processing of real time and delayed mode data. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) operate the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) program which coordinates the exchange of delayed mode data between national oceanographic data centers, World Data Centers and the user community. The Integrated Global Ocean Services System is a joint IOC/World Meteorological Organization (WMO) program for the exchange and management of real-time data. These two programs are complemented by mechanisms that have been established within scientific programs to exchange and manage project data sets. In particular TOGA and WOCE have identified a data management requirement and established the appropriate infrastructure to achieve this. Where GTSPP fits into this existing framework is discussed.

Transmission risk of two chikungunya lineages by invasive mosquito vectors from Florida and the Dominican Republic

PubMed Central

Wiggins, Keenan; Eastmond, Bradley; Velez, Daniel; Lounibos, L. Philip; Lord, Cynthia C.

2017-01-01

Between 2014 and 2016 more than 3,800 imported human cases of chikungunya fever in Florida highlight the high risk for local transmission. To examine the potential for sustained local transmission of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in Florida we tested whether local populations of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus show differences in susceptibility to infection and transmission to two emergent lineages of CHIKV, Indian Ocean (IOC) and Asian genotypes (AC) in laboratory experiments. All examined populations of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes displayed susceptibility to infection, rapid viral dissemination into the hemocoel, and transmission for both emergent lineages of CHIKV. Aedes albopictus had higher disseminated infection and transmission of IOC sooner after ingesting CHIKV infected blood than Ae. aegypti. Aedes aegypti had higher disseminated infection and transmission later during infection with AC than Ae. albopictus. Viral dissemination and transmission of AC declined during the extrinsic incubation period, suggesting that transmission risk declines with length of infection. Interestingly, the reduction in transmission of AC was less in Ae. aegypti than Ae. albopictus, suggesting that older Ae. aegypti females are relatively more competent vectors than similar aged Ae. albopictus females. Aedes aegypti originating from the Dominican Republic had viral dissemination and transmission rates for IOC and AC strains that were lower than for Florida vectors. We identified small-scale geographic variation in vector competence among Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus that may contribute to regional differences in risk of CHIKV transmission in Florida. PMID:28749964

Test and training simulator for ground-based teleoperated in-orbit servicing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schaefer, Bernd E.

1989-01-01

For the Post-IOC(In-Orbit Construction)-Phase of COLUMBUS it is intended to use robotic devices for the routine operations of ground-based teleoperated In-Orbit Servicing. A hardware simulator for verification of the relevant in-orbit operations technologies, the Servicing Test Facility, is necessary which mainly will support the Flight Control Center for the Manned Space-Laboratories for operational specific tasks like system simulation, training of teleoperators, parallel operation simultaneously to actual in-orbit activities and for the verification of the ground operations segment for telerobotics. The present status of definition for the facility functional and operational concept is described.

Exact analytical approach for six-degree-of-freedom measurement using image-orientation-change method.

PubMed

Tsai, Chung-Yu

2012-04-01

An exact analytical approach is proposed for measuring the six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) motion of an object using the image-orientation-change (IOC) method. The proposed measurement system comprises two reflector systems, where each system consists of two reflectors and one position sensing detector (PSD). The IOCs of the object in the two reflector systems are described using merit functions determined from the respective PSD readings before and after motion occurs, respectively. The three rotation variables are then determined analytically from the eigenvectors of the corresponding merit functions. After determining the three rotation variables, the order of the translation equations is downgraded to a linear form. Consequently, the solution for the three translation variables can also be analytically determined. As a result, the motion transformation matrix describing the 6-DOF motion of the object is fully determined. The validity of the proposed approach is demonstrated by means of an illustrative example.

Luneburg lens and optical matrix algebra research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wood, V. E.; Busch, J. R.; Verber, C. M.; Caulfield, H. J.

1984-01-01

Planar, as opposed to channelized, integrated optical circuits (IOCs) were stressed as the basis for computational devices. Both fully-parallel and systolic architectures are considered and the tradeoffs between the two device types are discussed. The Kalman filter approach is a most important computational method for many NASA problems. This approach to deriving a best-fit estimate for the state vector describing a large system leads to matrix sizes which are beyond the predicted capacities of planar IOCs. This problem is overcome by matrix partitioning, and several architectures for accomplishing this are described. The Luneburg lens work has involved development of lens design techniques, design of mask arrangements for producing lenses of desired shape, investigation of optical and chemical properties of arsenic trisulfide films, deposition of lenses both by thermal evaporation and by RF sputtering, optical testing of these lenses, modification of lens properties through ultraviolet irradiation, and comparison of measured lens properties with those expected from ray trace analyses.

Transcriptome profile of Trichoderma harzianum IOC-3844 induced by sugarcane bagasse.

PubMed

Horta, Maria Augusta Crivelente; Vicentini, Renato; Delabona, Priscila da Silva; Laborda, Prianda; Crucello, Aline; Freitas, Sindélia; Kuroshu, Reginaldo Massanobu; Polikarpov, Igor; Pradella, José Geraldo da Cruz; Souza, Anete Pereira

2014-01-01

Profiling the transcriptome that underlies biomass degradation by the fungus Trichoderma harzianum allows the identification of gene sequences with potential application in enzymatic hydrolysis processing. In the present study, the transcriptome of T. harzianum IOC-3844 was analyzed using RNA-seq technology. The sequencing generated 14.7 Gbp for downstream analyses. De novo assembly resulted in 32,396 contigs, which were submitted for identification and classified according to their identities. This analysis allowed us to define a principal set of T. harzianum genes that are involved in the degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose and the accessory genes that are involved in the depolymerization of biomass. An additional analysis of expression levels identified a set of carbohydrate-active enzymes that are upregulated under different conditions. The present study provides valuable information for future studies on biomass degradation and contributes to a better understanding of the role of the genes that are involved in this process.

Jaipur Indian Oil Fire of 29 September 2009 and Associated Atmospheric and Meteorological Changes Using Multi Sensor Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chauhan, Akshansha; Sharma, Manish; Mehdi, Waseem; Singh, Rachita; Mishra, Sunil K.; Singh, Ramesh

An intense fire occurred at Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) located at Sitapur near Jaipur city on 29 October 2009 around 6.00 pm. High flames up to 70 ft were seen and emission of black plumes were observed over few days. The huge fire killed few and injured a dozen of people. Soon after this huge fire, people living in the adjoining areas escaped and a spurt of patients complaining respiratory problems were reported and taken to the nearest hospital for medical care. The people living in the surrounding villages suffered eye irritation, rashes and were also rushed to the nearest hospital for emergency care. Huge amount of carbon soot was seen in the atmosphere which was deposited in the field and houses. Huge emission of toxic gases like CO, CO2, SO2, NOx were due to burning of oil, although the routine observed data by the Central Pollution Control Board was not made available so it was difficult to comment on the exact amount of these toxic gases. These gases modify the atmospheric composition initially over the IOC region and with time dispersed in the direction of wind towards south-eastern parts affecting major cities Kota, Gwalior, etc. Soon after the fire, cloudy conditions were observed over Delhi which is north-east of IOC, with a thick smog which interrupted road and air traffic for a couple of days. An analysis of multi satellite sensor data (MODIS, AIRS, OMI AURA, AMSER) were carried out. Terra MODIS Image (1 km and 250 m resolution) clearly shows the dispersion of plume. The plume shows south-east direction due to dominance of north-westerly wind in the region. Numerous atmospheric (aerosol optical depth, angstrom coefficient, water vapor and CO mixing ratio, total ozone column) and meteorological parameters (air temperature, relative humidity) are found change. AIRS data show the enhancement of carbon monoxide and changes in atmospheric parameters at around 500 hPa pressure level in the nearby cities due to dispersion in the direction of wind towards south-eastern parts affecting major cities Kota, Gwalior, etc. The observed changes in the climatic conditions of Delhi, health and ecological impact and formation of a thick smog in Delhi will be presented in view of the observed ground and satellite data.

Arsenic in drinking water wells on the Bolivian high plain: Field monitoring and effect of salinity on removal efficiency of iron-oxides-containing filters.

PubMed

Van Den Bergh, K; Du Laing, G; Montoya, Juan Carlos; De Deckere, E; Tack, F M G

2010-11-01

In the rural areas around Oruro (Bolivia), untreated groundwater is used directly as drinking water. This research aimed to evaluate the general drinking water quality, with focus on arsenic (As) concentrations, based on analysis of 67 samples from about 16 communities of the Oruro district. Subsequently a filter using Iron Oxide Coated Sand (IOCS) and a filter using a Composite Iron Matrix (CIM) were tested for their arsenic removal capacity using synthetic water mimicking real groundwater. Heavy metal concentrations in the sampled drinking water barely exceeded WHO guidelines. Arsenic concentrations reached values up to 964 μ g L⁻¹ and exceeded the current WHO provisional guideline value of 10 μ g L⁻¹ in more than 50% of the sampled wells. The WHO guideline of 250 mg L⁻¹ for chloride and sulphate was also exceeded in more than a third of the samples, indicating high salinity in the drinking waters. Synthetic drinking water could be treated effectively by the IOCS- and CIM-based filters reducing As to concentrations lower than 10 μ g L⁻¹. High levels of chloride and sulphate did not influence As removal efficiency. However, phosphate concentrations in the range from 4 to 24 mg L⁻¹ drastically decreased removal efficiency of the IOCS-based filter but had no effects on removal efficiency of the CIM-based filter. Results of this study can be used as a base for further testing and practical implementation of drinking water purification in the Oruro region.

Impact of managed care on cancer trial enrollment.

PubMed

Gross, C P; Krumholz, H M

2005-06-01

To determine the relationship between managed care market activity and cancer trial enrollment. Trial participant data were obtained from the National Cancer Institute. Participants in cooperative group trials of breast, colorectal, lung, or prostate cancer during the years 1996 through 2001 were assigned to counties based on their zip code of residence. Linear regression was used to determine the relationship between county enrollment rate and two measures of county managed care activity (penetration and index of competition [IOC]), adjusting for other county characteristics. In bivariate analysis, there was a strong inverse correlation between trial enrollment rate and IOC (r = -0.23; P < .001) as well as the proportion of the population uninsured (-0.31; P < .001) and the percentage below poverty (-0.16; P < .001). In the multivariate model, greater county managed care competition (IOC) was inversely related to trial enrollment rate (P < .008 for comparison of each quartile v lowest quartile) after accounting for managed care penetration, proportion uninsured, and other county characteristics. Counties in the lowest quartile of managed care penetration tended to have lower enrollment rates than the remaining counties (r = -0.05; P = .048), while counties in the second, third, and fourth quartiles of penetration all had similar enrollment rates to one another. Cancer trial enrollment rates were suboptimal across all counties, and counties with higher levels of managed care competition had significantly lower enrollment rates. The relationship between managed care penetration and trial enrollment was less consistent. Future efforts to enhance trial participation should address the potential negative influence of market factors.

Where is the Oort Cloud Located?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez, Julio

2013-05-01

Abstract (2,250 Maximum Characters): The Oort cloud is the outermost population of the solar system. Our knowledge of its size and space structure relies on the single natural probe we have so far available, namely the new comets that are steadily injected by the tidal force of the galactic disk and passing stars. To learn about the places where new comets come from, it is essential to compute good original orbits and to understand how these may be affected by nongravitational (ng) forces. Distant comets (perihelion distance q > ~3 au) are found to be little affected by ng forces, unless they are very small (radii < ~ a few tenths km) and/or hyperactive (due to a highly volatile substance like CO or CO2). We discuss these problems in this presentation, and try to assemble a consistent picture of the Oort cloud, consisting of the inner Oort cloud (IOC) and the outer Oort cloud (OOC). The distribution of original energies of distant new comets (perihelion distances q> ~3 au presumably little affected by nongravitational forces) show that the boundary between the IOC and the OOC lies around an energy 30 × 10-6 au-1 or a semimajor axis ~ 3.3 × 104 au. New comets from the OOC show an uniform distribution of perihelion distances q, as expected for a thermalized Oort cloud comet population, while comets from the IOC show an increase of the rate of perihelion passages with q, as expected for comets whose perihelion distances evolve slowly under the action of external pertubers, and have to overcome the Jupiter-Saturn barrier to reach the inner planetary region.

Balloon Support Systems Performance for the Cosmic Rays Energetics and Mass Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tompson, Linda D.; Stuchlik, David W.

2006-01-01

The Ballooncraft Support Systems were developed by NASA Wallops Flight Facility for use on ULDB class balloon missions. The support systems have now flown two missions supporting the Cosmic Rays Energetics and Mass (CREAM) experiment. The first, CREAM I, flown in December 2004, was for a record breaking 41 days, 21 hours, and the second, flown in December 2005, was for 28 days, 9 hours. These support systems provide CREAM with power, telecommunications, command and data handling ioc!uding Plight computers, mechanical structures, thermal management and attitude control to help ensure a successful scientific mission. This paper will address the performance and success of these support systems over the two missions.

Utilization of artificial intelligence techniques for the Space Station power system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Evatt, Thomas C.; Gholdston, Edward W.

1988-01-01

Due to the complexity of the Space Station Electrical Power System (EPS) as currently envisioned, artificial intelligence/expert system techniques are being investigated to automate operations, maintenance, and diagnostic functions. A study was conducted to investigate this technology as it applies to failure detection, isolation, and reconfiguration (FDIR) and health monitoring of power system components and of the total system. Control system utilization of expert systems for load scheduling and shedding operations was also researched. A discussion of the utilization of artificial intelligence/expert systems for Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for the Space Station effort is presented along with future plans at Rocketdyne for the utilization of this technology for enhanced Space Station power capability.

77 FR 68209 - Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-15

...-through devices, brachytherapy sources, intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT), brachytherapy composite... Modulated Radiation Therapy I/OCE Integrated Outpatient Code Editor IOL Intraocular lens IOM Institute of Medicine IORT Intraoperative radiation treatment IPF Inpatient Psychiatric Facility IPPS [Hospital...

Object motion computation for the initiation of smooth pursuit eye movements in humans.

PubMed

Wallace, Julian M; Stone, Leland S; Masson, Guillaume S

2005-04-01

Pursuing an object with smooth eye movements requires an accurate estimate of its two-dimensional (2D) trajectory. This 2D motion computation requires that different local motion measurements are extracted and combined to recover the global object-motion direction and speed. Several combination rules have been proposed such as vector averaging (VA), intersection of constraints (IOC), or 2D feature tracking (2DFT). To examine this computation, we investigated the time course of smooth pursuit eye movements driven by simple objects of different shapes. For type II diamond (where the direction of true object motion is dramatically different from the vector average of the 1-dimensional edge motions, i.e., VA not equal IOC = 2DFT), the ocular tracking is initiated in the vector average direction. Over a period of less than 300 ms, the eye-tracking direction converges on the true object motion. The reduction of the tracking error starts before the closing of the oculomotor loop. For type I diamonds (where the direction of true object motion is identical to the vector average direction, i.e., VA = IOC = 2DFT), there is no such bias. We quantified this effect by calculating the direction error between responses to types I and II and measuring its maximum value and time constant. At low contrast and high speeds, the initial bias in tracking direction is larger and takes longer to converge onto the actual object-motion direction. This effect is attenuated with the introduction of more 2D information to the extent that it was totally obliterated with a texture-filled type II diamond. These results suggest a flexible 2D computation for motion integration, which combines all available one-dimensional (edge) and 2D (feature) motion information to refine the estimate of object-motion direction over time.

Sensory properties of Californian and imported extra virgin olive oils.

PubMed

Delgado, Claudia; Guinard, Jean-Xavier

2011-04-01

Production and consumption of extra-virgin olive has been increasing in the United States, particularly in California. The objective of this study was to compare the sensory characteristics of 22 extra virgin olive oils (EVOO) from California, Italy, Spain, Chile, and Australia using a generic descriptive analysis. A total of 22 sensory attributes were identified and defined by the descriptive panel. With the exception of thick and citrus, all sensory attributes were significantly different among the oils. Canonical Variate Analysis (CVA) showed that California oils differed from some imported EVOOs, mainly by their absence of defects. A second analysis, of only those attributes included in the International Olive Council (IOC) official scorecard, provided a less detailed description of the samples and did not allow for a full characterization of the oils. While the IOC attributes allowed for faster classification in terms of clean versus defective EVOOs, the more comprehensive descriptive analysis provided both more information and a more refined classification of the samples. Variety and region of origin were important factors in the classification of both Californian and imported EVOOs.   Measuring olive oil sensory quality using the IOC method-positive attributes of fruitiness, bitterness, and pungency, and defects including fusty, musty, winey, and rancid-allows for the certification of oils as extra virgin but it provides limited information on the sensory characteristics of the oils. A full descriptive profile, on the other hand, provides information that can be used by producers in the processing and marketing of their oils, and is a useful tool in the education of consumers about the wide range of (positive) sensory attributes in EVOO and the various sensory styles of EVOO.

CAT: the INGV Tsunami Alert Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michelini, A.

2014-12-01

After the big 2004 Sumatra earthquake, the tsunami threat posed by large earthquakes occurring in the Mediterranean sea was formally taken into account by many countries around the Mediterranean basin. In the past, large earthquakes that originated significant tsunamis occurred nearly once per century (Maramai et al., 2014, Annals of Geophysics). The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO) received a mandate from the international community to coordinate the establishment of the ICG/NEAMTWS (http://neamtic.ioc-unesco.org) through Resolution IOC-XXIII-14. Since then, several countries (France, Turkey, Greece) have started operating as candidate Tsunami Watch Provider (cTWP) in the Mediterranean. Italy started operating as cTWP on October 1st, 2014. The Italian cTWP is formed by INGV ("Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia)", DPC ("Dipartimento di Protezione Civile") and ISPRA ("Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale"). INGV is in charge of issuing the alert for potentially tsunamigenic earthquakes, ISPRA provides the sea level recordings and DPC is in charge of disseminating the alert. INGV established the tsunami alert center (CAT, "Centro di Allerta Tsunami") at the end of 2013. CAT is co-located with the INGV national seismic surveillance center operated since many years. In this work, we show the technical and personnel organization of CAT, its response to recent earthquakes, and the new procedures under development for implementation. (*) INGV-CAT WG: Amato A., Basili R., Bernardi F., Bono A., Danecek P., De Martini P.M., Govoni A., Graziani L., Lauciani V., Lomax, A., Lorito S., Maramai A., Mele F., Melini D., Molinari I., Nostro C., Piatanesi A., Pintore S., Quintiliani M., Romano F., Selva J., Selvaggi G., Sorrentino D., Tonini R.

Bioethanol production by a xylan fermenting thermophilic isolate Clostridium strain DBT-IOC-DC21.

PubMed

Singh, Nisha; Puri, Munish; Tuli, Deepak K; Gupta, Ravi P; Barrow, Colin J; Mathur, Anshu S

2018-06-01

To overcome the challenges associated with combined bioprocessing of lignocellulosic biomass to biofuel, finding good organisms is essential. An ethanol producing bacteria DBT-IOC-DC21 was isolated from a compost site via preliminary enrichment culture on a pure hemicellulosic substrate and identified as a Clostridium strain by 16S rRNA analysis. This strain presented broad substrate spectrum with ethanol, acetate, lactate, and hydrogen as the primary metabolic end products. The optimum conditions for ethanol production were found to be an initial pH of 7.0, a temperature of 70 °C and an L-G ratio of 0.67. Strain presented preferential hemicellulose fermentation when compared to various substrates and maximum ethanol concentration of 26.61 mM and 43.63 mM was produced from xylan and xylose, respectively. During the fermentation of varying concentration of xylan, a substantial amount of ethanol ranging from 25.27 mM to 67.29 mM was produced. An increased ethanol concentration of 40.22 mM was produced from a mixture of cellulose and xylan, with a significant effect observed on metabolic flux distribution. The optimum conditions were used to produce ethanol from 28 g L -1 rice straw biomass (RSB) (equivalent to 5.7 g L -1 of the xylose equivalents) in which 19.48 mM ethanol production was achieved. Thus, Clostridium strain DBT-IOC-DC21 has the potential to perform direct microbial conversion of untreated RSB to ethanol at a yield comparative to xylan fermentation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Novel Index (Hepatic Receptor: IHR) to Evaluate Hepatic Functional Reserve Using (99m)Tc-GSA Scintigraphy.

PubMed

Hasegawa, Daisuke; Onishi, Hideo; Matsutomo, Norikazu

2016-02-01

This study aimed to evaluate the novel index of hepatic receptor (IHR) on the regression analysis derived from time activity curve of the liver for hepatic functional reserve. Sixty patients had undergone (99m)Tc-galactosyl serum albumin ((99m)Tc-GSA) scintigraphy in the retrospective clinical study. Time activity curves for liver were obtained by region of interest (ROI) on the whole liver. A novel hepatic functional predictor was calculated with multiple regression analysis of time activity curves. In the multiple regression function, the objective variables were the indocyanine green (ICG) retention rate at 15 min, and the explanatory variables were the liver counts in 3-min intervals until end from beginning. Then, this result was defined by IHR, and we analyzed the correlation between IHR and ICG, uptake ratio of the heart at 15 minutes to that at 3 minutes (HH15), uptake ratio of the liver to the liver plus heart at 15 minutes (LHL15), and index of convexity (IOC). Regression function of IHR was derived as follows: IHR=0.025×L(6)-0.052×L(12)+0.027×L(27). The multiple regression analysis indicated that liver counts at 6 min, 12 min, and 27 min were significantly related to objective variables. The correlation coefficient between IHR and ICG was 0.774, and the correlation coefficient between ICG and conventional indices (HH15, LHL15, and IOC) were 0.837, 0.773, and 0.793, respectively. IHR had good correlation with HH15, LHL15, and IOC. The finding results suggested that IHR would provide clinical benefit for hepatic functional assessment in the (99m)Tc-GSA scintigraphy.

A SPR-based immunosensor for the detection of isoproturon.

PubMed

Gouzy, Marie-Françoise; Kess, Melanie; Krämer, Petra M

2009-02-15

The proof of principle of a reusable surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based immunosensor for the monitoring of isoproturon (IPU), a selective and systemic herbicide, is presented. The detecting rat monoclonal anti-isoproturon antibody (mAb IOC 7E1) was reversibly immobilized through the use of a capture mouse anti-rat (kappa-chain) monoclonal antibody (mAb TIB 172), which was covalently immobilized on the sensor chip surface. Such strategy features a controlled binding of the captured detecting antibody as well as facilitates the surface regeneration. The capture of the anti-IPU mAb by the antibody (TIB 172) coated sensor surface could be carried out up to 120 times (immobilization/regeneration cycles) without any evidence of activity loss. With a high test midpoint and a low associated SPR signal, the direct detection format was shown to be unsuitable for the routine analysis of isoproturon. However, the limit of detection (LOD) could be easily enhanced by using a strategy based on a surface competition assay, which improved all immunosensor parameters. Moreover, the sensitivity and working range of the indirect format were found to be dependent on the surface density of the anti-IPU mAb IOC 7E1. As expected for competitive formats, the lowest surface coverage (0.5 ng/mm(2)) allowed a lower detection of the herbicide isoproturon with a calculated LOD of 0.1 microg/l, an IC(50) (50% inhibition) of 5.3+/-0.6 microg/l, and a working range (20-80% inhibition) of 1.3-16.3 microg/l.

75 FR 78722 - Intent To Prepare Programmatic Environmental Assessment Statement for the Nationwide...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-16

... sensor network and provide extended sensor network and components to fill critical situational awareness... different agencies), and share resources. The IOCs will improve tactical decision-making, situational awareness, operations monitoring/ interoperability, rules-based processing, and joint planning in a...

Remote Sensing and Imaging Physics

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-05

sites • Planned IOC: 2013-2014 FTN Observatory Configuration • U.S • Colorado Mesa University (Grand Junction, CO) • Fort Lewis College ( Durango ...for orbit and uncertainty propagation Dan Sheeres (U Colorado ) – Correlation of and change detection in space objects using non-Gaussian PDFs for

The Global Ocean Observing System: One perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, J. Ron

1992-01-01

This document presents a possible organization for a Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) within the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the joint ocean programs with the World Meteorological Organization. The document and the organization presented here is not intended to be definitive, complete or the best possible organization for such an observation program. It is presented at this time to demonstrate three points. The first point to be made is that an international program office for GOOS along the lines of the WOCE and TOGA IPOs is essential. The second point is that national programs will have to continue to collect data at the scale of WOCE plus TOGA and more. The third point is that there are many existing groups and committees within the IOC and joint IOC/WMO ocean programs that can contribute essential experience to and form part of the basis of a Global Ocean Observing System. It is particularly important to learn from what has worked and what has not worked in the past if a successful ocean observing system is to result.

An international project to confirm Soviet-era results on immunological and teratological effects of RF field exposure in Wistar rats and comments on Grigoriev et al. [2010].

PubMed

Repacholi, Michael; Buschmann, Jochen; Pioli, Claudio; Sypniewska, Roza

2011-05-01

Results of key Soviet-era studies dealing with effects on the immune system and teratological consequences in rats exposed to radiofrequency (RF) fields serve, in part, as a basis for setting exposure limits in the USSR and the current RF standards in Russia. The World Health Organization's (WHO) International EMF Project considered these Soviet results important enough that they should be confirmed using more modern methods. Since the Soviet papers did not contain comprehensive details on how the results were obtained, Professor Yuri Grigoriev worked with Dr. Bernard Veyret to agree on the final study protocol and to conduct separate studies in Moscow and Bordeaux under the same protocol. The International Oversight Committee (IOC) provided oversight on the conduct of the studies and was the firewall committee that dealt with the sponsors and researchers. This paper gives the IOC comments and conclusions on the differing results between the two studies. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

SERVER DEVELOPMENT FOR NSLS-II PHYSICS APPLICATIONS AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shen, G.; Kraimer, M.

2011-03-28

The beam commissioning software framework of NSLS-II project adopts a client/server based architecture to replace the more traditional monolithic high level application approach. The server software under development is available via an open source sourceforge project named epics-pvdata, which consists of modules pvData, pvAccess, pvIOC, and pvService. Examples of two services that already exist in the pvService module are itemFinder, and gather. Each service uses pvData to store in-memory transient data, pvService to transfer data over the network, and pvIOC as the service engine. The performance benchmarking for pvAccess and both gather service and item finder service are presented inmore » this paper. The performance comparison between pvAccess and Channel Access are presented also. For an ultra low emittance synchrotron radiation light source like NSLS II, the control system requirements, especially for beam control are tight. To control and manipulate the beam effectively, a use case study has been performed to satisfy the requirement and theoretical evaluation has been performed. The analysis shows that model based control is indispensable for beam commissioning and routine operation. However, there are many challenges such as how to re-use a design model for on-line model based control, and how to combine the numerical methods for modeling of a realistic lattice with the analytical techniques for analysis of its properties. To satisfy the requirements and challenges, adequate system architecture for the software framework for beam commissioning and operation is critical. The existing traditional approaches are self-consistent, and monolithic. Some of them have adopted a concept of middle layer to separate low level hardware processing from numerical algorithm computing, physics modelling, data manipulating and plotting, and error handling. However, none of the existing approaches can satisfy the requirement. A new design has been proposed by introducing service oriented architecture technology, and client interface is undergoing. The design and implementation adopted a new EPICS implementation, namely epics-pvdata [9], which is under active development. The implementation of this project under Java is close to stable, and binding to other language such as C++ and/or Python is undergoing. In this paper, we focus on the performance benchmarking and comparison for pvAccess and Channel Access, the performance evaluation for 2 services, gather and item finder respectively.« less

Integrated Financial Reporting for a Small Business

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-03-01

to affect future events. Highly summarized and accurate accounting information reduces the risk associated with decision making. Managers, bankers...return scratch a4’ lEdec- returb scratebha2 383 /GIGT81scratcba&rea - /GlGTBIcathre /lRGlocratch area* 384 ZAUG JUL* ISIP AUGrtc&e& IOC? SIP* - 385

One-step laparoscopic and endoscopic treatment of gallbladder and common bile duct stones: our experience of the last 9 years in a retrospective study.

PubMed

Liverani, Andrea; Muroni, Mirko; Santi, Francesco; Neri, Tiziano; Anastasio, Gerardo; Moretti, Marco; Favi, Francesco; Solinas, Luigi

2013-12-01

The optimal timing and best method for removal of common bile duct stones (CBDS) associated with gallbladder stones (GBS) is still controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate the outcomes of a single-step procedure combining laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), intraoperative cholangiography (IOC), and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Between January 2003 and January 2012, 1972 patients underwent cholecystectomy at our hospital. Of those, 162 patients (8.2%; male/female 72/90) presented with GBS and suspected CBDS. We treated 54 cases (Group 1) with ERCP and LC within 48 to 72 hours. In 108 patients (Group 2) we performed LC with IOC and, if positive, was associated with IO-ERCP and sphincterotomy. In Group 1, a preoperative ERCP and LC were completed in 50 patients (30%). In four cases (2%), an ERCP and endobiliary stents were performed without cholecystectomy and then patients were discharged because of the severity of clinical conditions and advanced American Society of Anesthesiologists score (III to IV). Two months later a preoperative ERCP and removal of biliary stents were performed followed by LC 48 to 72 hours later. In Group 2, the IOC was performed in all cases and CBDS were extracted in 94 patients (87%). In two cases, the laparoscopic choledochotomy was necessary to remove large stones. In another two cases, an open choledochotomy was performed to remove safely the stones with T-tube drainage. In three cases, conversion was necessary to safely complete the procedure. The mean operative time was 95 minutes (range, 45 to 150 minutes) in Group 1 and 130 minutes (range, 50 to 300 minutes) in Group 2. The mean hospital stay was 6.5 days (range, 4 to 21 days) in Group 1 and 4.7 days (range, 3 to 14 days) in Group 2. Five cases (two in Group 2 and three in Group 1) presented with CBDS at 12 to 18 months after surgery. They were treated successfully with a second ERCP. There was no perioperative mortality. Our experience suggests that when clinically and technically feasible, a single-stage approach combining LC, IOC, and ERCP to the patients diagnosed with chole-choledocholithiasis is indicated. The IO-ERCP with CBDS extraction is a safe and effective method with low risk of postoperative pancreatitis. One-step treatment is more comfortable for the patient and also reduces the mean hospital stay.

Microbial Degradation of Pesticides

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-11-30

with a 2-m glass, 3.2 mm I.D. column, packed with 3% Silar IOC on Gas-Chrom Q, (110-200 mesh) (Applied Science Laboratories, State College, PA) was...allowing the material to stand overnight to form trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives of polar compounds. All peaks recovered by GC on Silar 1OC rolumn

Logistics Assessment Guidebook

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-07-01

evaluation at IOT &E and thus on track for Initial Operational Capability (IOC). If not, a plan is in place to ensure they are met (ref DoDI 5000; CJCSM...determined military packaging is the optimal solution Items intended for/or may be in long-term storage I IP F 6.2.2 Department of Agriculture

Korean Affairs Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-06-13

William Cespedes; San Jose Radio Reloj , 22 May 85) 49 Briefs IOC Meeting in Lausanne 51 FOREIGN TRADE Reportage on Trade With Japan (YONHAP, 21...San Jose Radio Reloj in Spanish 1210 GMT 22 May 85 [Report by William Cespedes from Seoul, ROK—live or recorded] [Text] At a news conference at the

OCEAN-PC and a distributed network for ocean data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclain, Douglas R.

1992-01-01

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) wishes to develop an integrated software package for oceanographic data entry and access in developing countries. The software, called 'OCEAN-PC', would run on low cost PC microcomputers and would encourage and standardize: (1) entry of local ocean observations; (2) quality control of the local data; (3) merging local data with historical data; (4) improved display and analysis of the merged data; and (5) international data exchange. OCEAN-PC will link existing MS-DOS oceanographic programs and data sets with table-driven format conversions. Since many ocean data sets are now being distributed on optical discs (Compact Discs - Read Only Memory, CD-ROM, Mass et al. 1987), OCEAN-PC will emphasize access to CD-ROMs.

Adaptive momentum management for large space structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hahn, E.

1987-01-01

Momentum management is discussed for a Large Space Structure (LSS) with the structure selected configuration being the Initial Orbital Configuration (IOC) of the dual keel space station. The external forces considered were gravity gradient and aerodynamic torques. The goal of the momentum management scheme developed is to remove the bias components of the external torques and center the cyclic components of the stored angular momentum. The scheme investigated is adaptive to uncertainties of the inertia tensor and requires only approximate knowledge of principle moments of inertia. Computational requirements are minimal and should present no implementation problem in a flight type computer and the method proposed is shown to be effective in the presence of attitude control bandwidths as low as .01 radian/sec.

Space station propulsion test bed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Briley, G. L.; Evans, S. A.

1989-01-01

A test bed was fabricated to demonstrate hydrogen/oxygen propulsion technology readiness for the intital operating configuration (IOC) space station application. The test bed propulsion module and computer control system were delivered in December 1985, but activation was delayed until mid-1986 while the propulsion system baseline for the station was reexamined. A new baseline was selected with hydrogen/oxygen thruster modules supplied with gas produced by electrolysis of waste water from the space shuttle and space station. As a result, an electrolysis module was designed, fabricated, and added to the test bed to provide an end-to-end simulation of the baseline system. Subsequent testing of the test bed propulsion and electrolysis modules provided an end-to-end demonstration of the complete space station propulsion system, including thruster hot firings using the oxygen and hydrogen generated from electrolysis of water. Complete autonomous control and operation of all test bed components by the microprocessor control system designed and delivered during the program was demonstrated. The technical readiness of the system is now firmly established.

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Summary Report. Twelfth Session of the Assembly (Paris, France, November 3-19, 1982).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France). Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

Summarized in this report are the discussions which took place during the twelfth session of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Assembly. Summaries are provided in 15 sections: opening comments; administrative arrangements; adoption of triennial commission report; ocean sciences; ocean services; training, education, and mutual…

Tools to Harness the Potential of Earth Observations for Water Quality Reporting and Management

EPA Science Inventory

The second IOCS meeting was convened by the IOCCG and was held in San Francisco, USA from 15-18 June 2015, with NASA and NOAA as the primary sponsors of the meeting. Additional sponsorship was obtained from ESA, EUMETSAT, CNES, SCOR and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. All or...

U.S. EPA, Pesticide Product Label, DIBAC 256, 01/17/1983

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2011-04-21

... (, pt. 8 pt. . , :-t. 10 !,t. 1 i, j\\t. flt. )i":'oc 2];; t~0.rr.lici(lc0 dct0r~~cnt • jI: :,r:: j:' :Grr: j TT-CL' : .. ~ 1 iITIZ:il-r.ut'!GICI i)c ~ : ~I .. :l. ;·,:l',·\\T-VT. ...

Measurement of Jovian decametric Io-related source location and beam shape

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maeda, K.; Carr, T. D.

1992-01-01

The paper presents new information on the locations of the Io-related sources A and C (i.e., Io-A and Io-C) and on the shapes of their emission beams on the basis of measurements of the Jovian decametric activity that was recorded by Voyager 1 and 2. In two instances, the same dynamic spectral arc event in the recorded data of the two spacecraft was recorded, providing in each case an opportunity to observe the same emission beam over a wide range of frequencies from two considerably different directions. The propagation-corrected centroid times of each of the Voyager-1 arcs are found to be coincident with those of the corresponding Voyager-2 arc in a particular frequency range, but not at other frequencies. The hypothesis that emission beams are in the form of thin, almost conical sheets, the cone opening angle decreasing with increasing frequency, is confirmed. It is demonstrated that both the Io-A and Io-C sources were located near the northern foot of the magnetic flux tube that was connected to Io.

Medicine and science in the fight against doping in sport.

PubMed

Catlin, D H; Fitch, K D; Ljungqvist, A

2008-08-01

The fight against doping in sports commenced as a result of the death of a Danish cyclist during the Rome Olympic Games in 1960. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) established a Medical Commission (IOC-MC) which had the task of designing a strategy to combat the misuse of drugs in Olympic Sport. Some International Sport Federations (IF) and National Sports Federations followed suit, but progress was modest until the world's best male sprinter was found doped with anabolic steroids at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988. Further progress was made following the cessation of the cold war in 1989 and in 1999 public authorities around the world joined the Olympic Movement in a unique partnership by creating WADA--the 'World Anti-Doping Agency'. The troubled history of the anti-doping fight from the 1960s until today is reviewed. In particular, the development of detection methods for an ever increasing number of drugs that can be used to dope is described, as are the measures that have been taken to protect the health of the athletes, including those who may need banned substances for medical reasons.

The atomic-scale nucleation mechanism of NiTi metallic glasses upon isothermal annealing studied via molecular dynamics simulations.

PubMed

Li, Yang; Li, JiaHao; Liu, BaiXin

2015-10-28

Nucleation is one of the most essential transformation paths in phase transition and exerts a significant influence on the crystallization process. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the atomic-scale nucleation mechanisms of NiTi metallic glasses upon devitrification at various temperatures (700 K, 750 K, 800 K, and 850 K). Our simulations reveal that at 700 K and 750 K, nucleation is polynuclear with high nucleation density, while at 800 K it is mononuclear. The underlying nucleation mechanisms have been clarified, manifesting that nucleation can be induced either by the initial ordered clusters (IOCs) or by the other precursors of nuclei evolved directly from the supercooled liquid. IOCs and other precursors stem from the thermal fluctuations of bond orientational order in supercooled liquids during the quenching process and during the annealing process, respectively. The simulation results not only elucidate the underlying nucleation mechanisms varied with temperature, but also unveil the origin of nucleation. These discoveries offer new insights into the devitrification mechanism of metallic glasses.

THE ATMOSPHERIC CYCLING AND AIR-SEA EXCHANGE OF MERCURY SPECIES IN THE SOUTH AND EQUATORIAL ATLANTIC OCEAN. (R829796)

EPA Science Inventory

Measurements of gas-, particle- and precipitation-phases of atmospheric mercury
(Hg) were made in the South and equatorial Atlantic Ocean as part of the 1996
IOC Trace Metal Baseline Study (Montevideo, Uruguay to Barbados). Total gaseous
mercury (TGM) ranged from ...

The Development and Initial Evaluation of the Human Readiness Level Framework

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-01

View ICD Initial Capabilities Document ICW Interactive Course Ware ILE Interactive Learning Environment ILT Instructor Led Training IOC...Programmatic Environmental Safety and Health Evaluation PHA Preliminary Hazard Analysis PHL Preliminary Hazard List xiv PM Program Manager PQS...Occupational Health SOW Statement of Work SRD System Requirements Document SPS System Performance Specification SRR System Requirements Review SVR

Software System Architecture Modeling Methodology for Naval Gun Weapon Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

Weapon System HAR Hazard Action Report HERO Hazards of Electromagnetic Radiation to Ordnance IOC Initial Operational Capability... radiation to ordnance ; and combinations therein. Equipment, systems, or procedures and processes whose malfunction would hazard the safe manufacturing...NDI Non-Development Item OPEVAL Operational Evaluation ORDALTS Ordnance Alterations O&SHA Operating and Support Hazard Analysis PDA

U.S. Maritime Security: Sustainability Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

Security Council ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement IOC Interagency Operation Center JHOC Joint Harbor Operation Center JIATF-S Joint...maritime threats into nation threats, transnational criminal and piracy threats, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne immigration (U.S...safe and secure borders, welcome lawful immigrants and visitors and promote the free-flow of commerce (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2011

The Promotion of the Youth Olympic Games: A Greek Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Judge, Lawrence W.; Kantzidou, Eleni D.; Bellar, David; Peterson, Jeffrey; Gilreath, Erin; Surber, Karin

2011-01-01

One of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) objectives is to reignite interest in Olympic sports in the midst of a generation of adolescents who have become increasingly overweight and inactive. In an effort to accomplish this objective, the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) were created, and the inaugural event was held in the summer of 2010. The…

An Inverse Optimal Control Approach to Explain Human Arm Reaching Control Based on Multiple Internal Models.

PubMed

Oguz, Ozgur S; Zhou, Zhehua; Glasauer, Stefan; Wollherr, Dirk

2018-04-03

Human motor control is highly efficient in generating accurate and appropriate motor behavior for a multitude of tasks. This paper examines how kinematic and dynamic properties of the musculoskeletal system are controlled to achieve such efficiency. Even though recent studies have shown that the human motor control relies on multiple models, how the central nervous system (CNS) controls this combination is not fully addressed. In this study, we utilize an Inverse Optimal Control (IOC) framework in order to find the combination of those internal models and how this combination changes for different reaching tasks. We conducted an experiment where participants executed a comprehensive set of free-space reaching motions. The results show that there is a trade-off between kinematics and dynamics based controllers depending on the reaching task. In addition, this trade-off depends on the initial and final arm configurations, which in turn affect the musculoskeletal load to be controlled. Given this insight, we further provide a discomfort metric to demonstrate its influence on the contribution of different inverse internal models. This formulation together with our analysis not only support the multiple internal models (MIMs) hypothesis but also suggest a hierarchical framework for the control of human reaching motions by the CNS.

Global search tool for the Advanced Photon Source Integrated Relational Model of Installed Systems (IRMIS) database.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Quock, D. E. R.; Cianciarulo, M. B.; APS Engineering Support Division

2007-01-01

The Integrated Relational Model of Installed Systems (IRMIS) is a relational database tool that has been implemented at the Advanced Photon Source to maintain an updated account of approximately 600 control system software applications, 400,000 process variables, and 30,000 control system hardware components. To effectively display this large amount of control system information to operators and engineers, IRMIS was initially built with nine Web-based viewers: Applications Organizing Index, IOC, PLC, Component Type, Installed Components, Network, Controls Spares, Process Variables, and Cables. However, since each viewer is designed to provide details from only one major category of the control system, themore » necessity for a one-stop global search tool for the entire database became apparent. The user requirements for extremely fast database search time and ease of navigation through search results led to the choice of Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) technology in the implementation of the IRMIS global search tool. Unique features of the global search tool include a two-tier level of displayed search results, and a database data integrity validation and reporting mechanism.« less

Analyses of Alternatives: Toward a More Rigorous Determination of Scope

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-30

justification is required to avoid three months of wasted effort, the change is unlikely to happen. Applying a Systems View Systems Thinking and...Defense Acquisition Guidebook para. 10.5.2 IOC FOC TRL 1‐3 TRL 4 TRL 7 TRL 8 TRL 9 Compon‐ ent and/or Bread ‐ board Validation In a Relevant Environ‐ ment

NPS TINYSCOPE Program Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

SMDC - Space and Missile Defense Command SOW - Statement of Work STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics STP - Space Test Program...the project. A statement of work ( SOW ) is typically used to document broad responsibilities, deliverables, and the work activities required in a...given project. The SOW acts as a guideline Summary of TINYSCOPE and Argus Requirements Requirement Threshold Objective Mission IOC Sep 2011 ASAP

Speech Processing and Recognition (SPaRe)

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-01-01

results in the areas of automatic speech recognition (ASR), speech processing, machine translation (MT), natural language processing ( NLP ), and...Processing ( NLP ), Information Retrieval (IR) 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: UNCLASSIFED 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 19a. NAME...Figure 9, the IOC was only expected to provide document submission and search; automatic speech recognition (ASR) for English, Spanish, Arabic , and

An Instructional Design Model with the Cultivating Research-Based Learning Strategies for Fostering Teacher Students' Creative Thinking Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khuana, Khwanchai; Khuana, Tanthip; Santiboon, Toansakul

2017-01-01

Designing the instructional model with the innovative the "Research-Based Learning Strategy Lesson Plans" of the effectiveness of the processing performance and the resulting performance (E1/E2) with the IOC value determining standardized criteria of 80/80 were developed. Students' perceptions were assessed with the 30-item…

Analysis of genomic regions of Trichoderma harzianum IOC-3844 related to biomass degradation.

PubMed

Crucello, Aline; Sforça, Danilo Augusto; Horta, Maria Augusta Crivelente; dos Santos, Clelton Aparecido; Viana, Américo José Carvalho; Beloti, Lilian Luzia; de Toledo, Marcelo Augusto Szymanski; Vincentz, Michel; Kuroshu, Reginaldo Massanobu; de Souza, Anete Pereira

2015-01-01

Trichoderma harzianum IOC-3844 secretes high levels of cellulolytic-active enzymes and is therefore a promising strain for use in biotechnological applications in second-generation bioethanol production. However, the T. harzianum biomass degradation mechanism has not been well explored at the genetic level. The present work investigates six genomic regions (~150 kbp each) in this fungus that are enriched with genes related to biomass conversion. A BAC library consisting of 5,760 clones was constructed, with an average insert length of 90 kbp. The assembled BAC sequences revealed 232 predicted genes, 31.5% of which were related to catabolic pathways, including those involved in biomass degradation. An expression profile analysis based on RNA-Seq data demonstrated that putative regulatory elements, such as membrane transport proteins and transcription factors, are located in the same genomic regions as genes related to carbohydrate metabolism and exhibit similar expression profiles. Thus, we demonstrate a rapid and efficient tool that focuses on specific genomic regions by combining a BAC library with transcriptomic data. This is the first BAC-based structural genomic study of the cellulolytic fungus T. harzianum, and its findings provide new perspectives regarding the use of this species in biomass degradation processes.

Analysis of Genomic Regions of Trichoderma harzianum IOC-3844 Related to Biomass Degradation

PubMed Central

Crucello, Aline; Sforça, Danilo Augusto; Horta, Maria Augusta Crivelente; dos Santos, Clelton Aparecido; Viana, Américo José Carvalho; Beloti, Lilian Luzia; de Toledo, Marcelo Augusto Szymanski; Vincentz, Michel; Kuroshu, Reginaldo Massanobu; de Souza, Anete Pereira

2015-01-01

Trichoderma harzianum IOC-3844 secretes high levels of cellulolytic-active enzymes and is therefore a promising strain for use in biotechnological applications in second-generation bioethanol production. However, the T. harzianum biomass degradation mechanism has not been well explored at the genetic level. The present work investigates six genomic regions (~150 kbp each) in this fungus that are enriched with genes related to biomass conversion. A BAC library consisting of 5,760 clones was constructed, with an average insert length of 90 kbp. The assembled BAC sequences revealed 232 predicted genes, 31.5% of which were related to catabolic pathways, including those involved in biomass degradation. An expression profile analysis based on RNA-Seq data demonstrated that putative regulatory elements, such as membrane transport proteins and transcription factors, are located in the same genomic regions as genes related to carbohydrate metabolism and exhibit similar expression profiles. Thus, we demonstrate a rapid and efficient tool that focuses on specific genomic regions by combining a BAC library with transcriptomic data. This is the first BAC-based structural genomic study of the cellulolytic fungus T. harzianum, and its findings provide new perspectives regarding the use of this species in biomass degradation processes. PMID:25836973

RF control hardware design for CYCIAE-100 cyclotron

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Zhiguo; Fu, Xiaoliang; Ji, Bin; Zhao, Zhenlu; Zhang, Tianjue; Li, Pengzhan; Wei, Junyi; Xing, Jiansheng; Wang, Chuan

2015-11-01

The Beijing Radioactive Ion-beam Facility project is being constructed by BRIF division of China Institute of Atomic Energy. In this project, a 100 MeV high intensity compact proton cyclotron is built for multiple applications. The first successful beam extraction of CYCIAE-100 cyclotron was done in the middle of 2014. The extracted proton beam energy is 100 MeV and the beam current is more than 20 μA. The RF system of the CYCIAE-100 cyclotron includes two half-wavelength cavities, two 100 kW tetrode amplifiers and power transmission line systems (all above are independent from each other) and two sets of Low Level RF control crates. Each set of LLRF control includes an amplitude control unit, a tuning control unit, a phase control unit, a local Digital Signal Process control unit and an Advanced RISC Machines based EPICS IOC unit. These two identical LLRF control crates share one common reference clock and take advantages of modern digital technologies (e.g. DSP and Direct Digital Synthesizer) to achieve closed loop voltage and phase regulations of the dee-voltage. In the beam commission, the measured dee-voltage stability of RF system is better than 0.1% and phase stability is better than 0.03°. The hardware design of the LLRF system will be reviewed in this paper.

Interaction between carboxyl-functionalized carbon black nanoparticles and porous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Song-Bae; Kang, Jin-Kyu; Yi, In-Geol

2015-04-01

Carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, fullerene, and graphene, have received considerable attention due to their unique physical and chemical characteristics, leading to mass production and widespread application in industrial, commercial, and environmental fields. During their life cycle from production to disposal, however, carbon nanomaterials are inevitably released into water and soil environments, which have resulted in concern about their health and environmental impacts. Carbon black is a nano-sized amorphous carbon powder that typically contains 90-99% elemental carbon. It can be produced from incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons in petroleum and coal. Carbon black is widely used in chemical and industrial products or applications such as ink pigments, coating plastics, the rubber industry, and composite reinforcements. Even though carbon black is strongly hydrophobic and tends to aggregate in water, it can be dispersed in aqueous media through surface functionalization or surfactant use. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the transport behavior of carboxyl-functionalized carbon black nanoparticles (CBNPs) in porous media. Column experiments were performed for potassium chloride (KCl), a conservative tracer, and CBNPs under saturated flow conditions. Column experiments was conducted in duplicate using quartz sand, iron oxide-coated sand (IOCS), and aluminum oxide-coated sand (AOCS) to examine the effect of metal (Fe, Al) oxide presence on the transport of CBNPs. Breakthrough curves (BTCs) of CBNPs and chloride were obtained by monitoring effluent, and then mass recovery was quantified from these curves. Additionally, interaction energy profiles for CBNP-porous media were calculated using DLVO theory for sphere-plate geometry. The BTCs of chloride had relative peak concentrations ranging from 0.895 to 0.990. Transport parameters (pore-water velocity v, hydrodynamic dispersion coefficient D) obtained by the model fit from the tracer BTCs were 0.274±0.007 cm min-1 and 0.102±0.025 cm2 min-1, respectively. Mass recoveries of chloride were in the range of 94.7 to 101.9%, indicating that chloride behaved as a conservative tracer and that the column experiments were successful. The BTCs of CBNPs had different relative peak concentrations depending on the porous media used in the experiments. In quartz sand, the relative peak concentration was 0.768±0.005. The mass recovery of CBNPs in quartz sand was 83.1±2.7%, whereas no breakthrough of CBNPs (mass recovery = 0 %) was observed in IOCS or AOCS at the same flow rate, indicating that all CBNPs were retained in the IOCS and AOCS columns under the experimental conditions. These results indicate that metal (Fe, Al) oxides can play a significant role in the attachment of CBNPs to porous media. For the given solution conditions, both CBNPs and quartz sand were negatively charged with zeta potentials of -31.8±0.1 and -39.0±0.6 mV, respectively. Therefore, the electrostatic interactions between CBNPs and quartz sand were repulsive. Meanwhile, both IOCS and ACOS were positively charged with zeta potentials of 10.1±1.3 and 39.9±1.9 mV, respectively, such that the interaction between CBNPs and metal oxide-coated sands was electrostatically attractive, resulting in enhancement of CBNP attachment to the coated sands. Interaction energy profiles for CBNP-porous media were calculated using DLVO theory for sphere-plate geometry. Interaction energy profiles demonstrated that the interaction energy for CBNP-quartz sand was repulsive with a primary maximum (energy barrier) of 63.2 KBT, whereas the interaction energies for CBNP-IOCS and CBNP-AOCS were attractive with no energy barriers. Acknowledgement This research was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Research, Korea Ministry of Environment, in 2014.

Time-Temperature Studies of High Temperature Deterioration Phenomena in Lubricant Systems: Synthetic Ester Lubricants

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-01-01

fro:n the reduction procedures described below were analyzed by GLC on a 6 ft x 4 mm glass column using 3% Silar -IOC, 3,% OV-1 or 3% OV-17 on 100-120...Computer) follow:ng. gas chromatographic separation of reaction products obtained’from the -reduction and derivatization procedures wi h a 3% Silar -10C

Photorefractive Effect in Barium Titanate Crystals

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-08-15

photorefractivity. The titanium dioxide feed material was prepared by the hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide , Ti(ioc3H7 )4 , according to the reaction...reduced pressure fractional distillation. This purification technique was based on the observation that titanium isopropoxide has a much lower boiling...Starting materials A major effort in this research was devoted to the synthesis of high-purity starting materials, since titanium dioxide and barium

The Aircraft Industry

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

market segment. Manufacturers are putting considerable effort into creating new models and upgrading current products for the high-end corporate...market share. Both competitors have new products entering the market with the Airbus A380 due around 2006, and the Boeing 787 scheduled for service in...commonality on all systems and technologies. First production models are expected to be delivered in 2008. Initial operating capability (IOC) for the U.S

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Eleventh Session of the Assembly, Including Resolutions from the Tenth and Eleventh Sessions of the Executive Council, Paris, 15 October - 3 November 1979. Summary Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France). Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission.

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) functions within the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to promote scientific investigation into the nature and resources of the world's oceans. Summarized in this report are discussions that took place in both preparatory meetings and plenary sessions of…

Blinding the Eyes of the Corps: Foresight at Last?

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-06-01

Figure 2: RF-4B ADAS Code Matrix Block ..................... 69 vii TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS AGL above ground level ATARS Advanced Air Reconnaissance...prior to 1995, the currently projected year for initial operational capability (IOC) of the Advanced Tactical Air Reconnaissance System ( ATARS ). 59...made a conscious commitment to participate in the development of the Advanced Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System ( ATARS ), a CCD-based, "electro

ASDTIC: A feedback control innovation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lalli, V. R.; Schoenfeld, A. D.

1972-01-01

The ASDTIC (Analog Signal to Discrete Time Interval Converter) control subsystem provides precise output control of high performance aerospace power supplies. The key to ASDTIC operation is that it stably controls output by sensing output energy change as well as output magnitude. The ASDTIC control subsystem and control module were developed to improve power supply performance during static and dynamic input voltage and output load variations, to reduce output voltage or current regulation due to component variations or aging, to maintain a stable feedback control with variations in the loop gain or loop time constants, and to standardize the feedback control subsystem for power conditioning equipment.

ASDTIC - A feedback control innovation.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lalli, V. R.; Schoenfeld, A. D.

1972-01-01

The ASDTIC (analog signal to discrete time interval converter) control subsystem provides precise output control of high performance aerospace power supplies. The key to ASDTIC operation is that it stably controls output by sensing output energy change as well as output magnitude. The ASDTIC control subsystem and control module were developed to improve power supply performance during static and dynamic input voltage and output load variations, to reduce output voltage or current regulation due to component variations or aging, to maintain a stable feedback control with variations in the loop gain or loop time constants, and to standardize the feedback control subsystem for power conditioning equipment.

rst Transcriptional Activity Influences kirre mRNA Concentration in the Drosophila Pupal Retina during the Final Steps of Ommatidial Patterning

PubMed Central

Machado, Maiaro Cabral Rosa; Octacilio-Silva, Shirlei; Costa, Mara Silvia A.; Ramos, Ricardo Guelerman P.

2011-01-01

Background Drosophila retinal architecture is laid down between 24–48 hours after puparium formation, when some of the still uncommitted interommatidial cells (IOCs) are recruited to become secondary and tertiary pigment cells while the remaining ones undergo apoptosis. This choice between survival and death requires the product of the roughest (rst) gene, an immunoglobulin superfamily transmembrane glycoprotein involved in a wide range of developmental processes. Both temporal misexpression of Rst and truncation of the protein intracytoplasmic domain, lead to severe defects in which IOCs either remain mostly undifferentiated and die late and erratically or, instead, differentiate into extra pigment cells. Intriguingly, mutants not expressing wild type protein often have normal or very mild rough eyes. Methodology/Principal Findings By using quantitative real time PCR to examine rst transcriptional dynamics in the pupal retina, both in wild type and mutant alleles we showed that tightly regulated temporal changes in rst transcriptional rate underlie its proper function during the final steps of eye patterning. Furthermore we demonstrated that the unexpected wild type eye phenotype of mutants with low or no rst expression correlates with an upregulation in the mRNA levels of the rst paralogue kin-of-irre (kirre), which seems able to substitute for rst function in this process, similarly to their role in myoblast fusion. This compensatory upregulation of kirre mRNA levels could be directly induced in wild type pupa upon RNAi-mediated silencing of rst, indicating that expression of both genes is also coordinately regulated in physiological conditions. Conclusions/Significance These findings suggest a general mechanism by which rst and kirre expression could be fine tuned to optimize their redundant roles during development and provide a clearer picture of how the specification of survival and apoptotic fates by differential cell adhesion during the final steps of retinal morphogenesis in insects are controlled at the transcriptional level. PMID:21857931

Control and optimization system

DOEpatents

Xinsheng, Lou

2013-02-12

A system for optimizing a power plant includes a chemical loop having an input for receiving an input parameter (270) and an output for outputting an output parameter (280), a control system operably connected to the chemical loop and having a multiple controller part (230) comprising a model-free controller. The control system receives the output parameter (280), optimizes the input parameter (270) based on the received output parameter (280), and outputs an optimized input parameter (270) to the input of the chemical loop to control a process of the chemical loop in an optimized manner.

Fuzzy logic control and optimization system

DOEpatents

Lou, Xinsheng [West Hartford, CT

2012-04-17

A control system (300) for optimizing a power plant includes a chemical loop having an input for receiving an input signal (369) and an output for outputting an output signal (367), and a hierarchical fuzzy control system (400) operably connected to the chemical loop. The hierarchical fuzzy control system (400) includes a plurality of fuzzy controllers (330). The hierarchical fuzzy control system (400) receives the output signal (367), optimizes the input signal (369) based on the received output signal (367), and outputs an optimized input signal (369) to the input of the chemical loop to control a process of the chemical loop in an optimized manner.

Field Surveys, IOC Valleys. Biological Resources Survey, Dry Lake Valley, Nevada. Volume II, Part I.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

procedures. Project impacts on each species should be * evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The role of the species in the ecosystem , the range and size...2U7 iii Efrtee E-TR-48-fI-I TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) Page 4.0 IMPACTS AND MITIGATIONS ............................. 211 4.1... Impacts .. ........................................ 211 4.1.1 Hydrology ................................. 212 4.1.2 Grazing

Recommendations to Commander, Naval Surface Forces, for Achieving a Strategic Approach to the Acquisition of Information Systems and Services

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government . IRB Protocol number _______N/A______. 12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY...72 3. GAO Case Study of Commercial Transformation in Decision Making on IS Acquisition Spending (Case Study Located in Appendix C...Program FRE Fleet Readiness Enterprise GAO government Accountability Office IOC Initial Operating Capability xvi IS Information

Definition of technology development missions for early space stations orbit transfer vehicle serving. Phase 2, task 1: Space station support of operational OTV servicing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

Representative space based orbital transfer vehicles (OTV), ground based vehicle turnaround assessment, functional operational requirements and facilities, mission turnaround operations, a comparison of ground based versus space based tasks, activation of servicing facilities prior to IOC, fleet operations requirements, maintenance facilities, OTV servicing facilities, space station support requirements, and packaging for delivery are discussed.

The Air Force Aviation Investment Challenge

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-11

Report R42136, U.S. Unmanned Aerial Systems. 6 Procurement percentage excludes modification funding. 7 IOC from Department of Defense, Annual Aviation...different picture. Spending for the LRS-B, following its recent contract award and entering its engineering and manufacturing development phase, is...Budget As part of its markup of the Navy’s proposed FY2015 budget, Congress created the National Sea- Based Deterrence Fund (NSBDF), a fund in the DOD

The Air Force Aviation Investment Challenge

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-17

7 Procurement percentage excludes modification funding. 8 IOC from Department of Defense, Annual Aviation Inventory and Funding Plan, Fiscal Years...its engineering and manufacturing development phase, is projected to triple over the course of the FYDP. 9 The newer programs begin with relatively...Through a Non-Air Force Budget As part of its markup of the Navy’s proposed FY2015 budget, Congress created the National Sea- Based Deterrence Fund

Reasons for Letter Contracts.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-01

accelerated Initial Operational Capability (IOC). The TOW-DRAGON PM reacted accordingly. This also is a good example of a letter contract award to permit...Government. Good pricing depends pri- marily upon the exercise of sound judgement by all personnel concerned with the procurement. I: 3-801.2...Contracts. (a) The written determination required by DAR 3-408(c)(1) shall in- clude an outline of the reaons for a letter contract and the alternatives

Applicability Of The Law Of Requisite Variety In Major Military System Acquisition

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

Iraq. As the insurgency adapted to American tactics, the high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) became a target of the insurgency because...tactics, the high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) became a target of the insurgency because of its lack of armor, which led to significant... high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle ICD initial capabilities document IED improvised explosive device IOC initial operating capability JCB

Space Station galley design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trabanino, Rudy; Murphy, George L.; Yakut, M. M.

1986-01-01

An Advanced Food Hardware System galley for the initial operating capability (IOC) Space Station is discussed. Space Station will employ food hardware items that have never been flown in space, such as a dishwasher, microwave oven, blender/mixer, bulk food and beverage dispensers, automated food inventory management, a trash compactor, and an advanced technology refrigerator/freezer. These new technologies and designs are described and the trades, design, development, and testing associated with each are summarized.

Fatal acute Chagas Disease in a Chimpanzee

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-08-01

infection in nonhuman primates (NHP) may remain sub-clinical for years with occasional symptoms of anorexia, lymphadenopathy, fever , hepatosplenomegaly...raised in rabbit anti-TC serum (LAB AIIR/IOC, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and rabbit ABC Staining System (sc- 2018 ), according to...ventricular wall of the heart and a moderate amount of yellow to orange fluid was evident in both ventricular walls and the septum. The thickness of the left

Clinical models are inaccurate in predicting bile duct stones in situ for patients with gallbladder.

PubMed

Topal, B; Fieuws, S; Tomczyk, K; Aerts, R; Van Steenbergen, W; Verslype, C; Penninckx, F

2009-01-01

The probability that a patient has common bile duct stones (CBDS) is a key factor in determining diagnostic and treatment strategies. This prospective cohort study evaluated the accuracy of clinical models in predicting CBDS for patients who will undergo cholecystectomy for lithiasis. From October 2005 until September 2006, 335 consecutive patients with symptoms of gallstone disease underwent cholecystectomy. Statistical analysis was performed on prospective patient data obtained at the time of first presentation to the hospital. Demonstrable CBDS at the time of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) or intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) was considered the gold standard for the presence of CBDS. Common bile duct stones were demonstrated in 53 patients. For 35 patients, ERCP was performed, with successful stone clearance in 24 of 30 patients who had proven CBDS. In 29 patients, IOC showed CBDS, which were managed successfully via laparoscopic common bile duct exploration, with stone extraction at the time of cholecystectomy. Prospective validation of the existing model for CBDS resulted in a predictive accuracy rate of 73%. The new model showed a predictive accuracy rate of 79%. Clinical models are inaccurate in predicting CBDS in patients with cholelithiasis. Management strategies should be based on the local availability of therapeutic expertise.

Quantitative Magnetic Separation of Particles and Cells using Gradient Magnetic Ratcheting

PubMed Central

Murray, Coleman; Pao, Edward; Tseng, Peter; Aftab, Shayan; Kulkarni, Rajan; Rettig, Matthew; Di Carlo, Dino

2016-01-01

Extraction of rare target cells from biosamples is enabling for life science research. Traditional rare cell separation techniques, such as magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS), are robust but perform coarse, qualitative separations based on surface antigen expression. We report a quantitative magnetic separation technology using high-force magnetic ratcheting over arrays of magnetically soft micro-pillars with gradient spacing, and use the system to separate and concentrate magnetic beads based on iron oxide content (IOC) and cells based on surface expression. The system consists of a microchip of permalloy micro-pillar arrays with increasing lateral pitch and a mechatronic device to generate a cycling magnetic-field. Particles with higher IOC separate and equilibrate along the miro-pillar array at larger pitches. We develop a semi-analytical model that predicts behavior for particles and cells. Using the system, LNCaP cells were separated based on the bound quantity of 1μm anti-EpCAM particles as a metric for expression. The ratcheting cytometry system was able to resolve a ±13 bound particle differential, successfully distinguishing LNCaP from PC3 populations based on EpCAM expression, correlating with flow cytometry analysis. As a proof of concept, EpCAM-labeled cells from patient blood were isolated with 74% purity, demonstrating potential towards a quantitative magnetic separation instrument. PMID:26890496

Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine Project for an Integral Oncology Center at the Oaxaca High Specialization Regional Hospital

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Jesús, M.; Trujillo-Zamudio, F. E.

2010-12-01

A building project of Radiotherapy & Nuclear Medicine services (diagnostic and therapy), within an Integral Oncology Center (IOC), requires interdisciplinary participation of architects, biomedical engineers, radiation oncologists and medical physicists. This report focus on the medical physicist role in designing, building and commissioning stages, for the final clinical use of an IOC at the Oaxaca High Specialization Regional Hospital (HRAEO). As a first step, during design stage, the medical physicist participates in discussions about radiation safety and regulatory requirements for the National Regulatory Agency (called CNSNS in Mexico). Medical physicists propose solutions to clinical needs and take decisions about installing medical equipment, in order to fulfill technical and medical requirements. As a second step, during the construction stage, medical physicists keep an eye on building materials and structural specifications. Meanwhile, regulatory documentation must be sent to CNSNS. This documentation compiles information about medical equipment, radioactivity facility, radiation workers and nuclear material data, in order to obtain the license for the linear accelerator, brachytherapy and nuclear medicine facilities. As a final step, after equipment installation, the commissioning stage takes place. As the conclusion, we show that medical physicists are essentials in order to fulfill with Mexican regulatory requirements in medical facilities.

Sea level oscillations over minute timescales: a global perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vilibic, Ivica; Sepic, Jadranka

2016-04-01

Sea level oscillations occurring over minutes to a few hours are an important contributor to sea level extremes, and a knowledge on their behaviour is essential for proper quantification of coastal marine hazards. Tsunamis, meteotsunamis, infra-gravity waves and harbour oscillations may even dominate sea level extremes in certain areas and thus pose a great danger for humans and coastal infrastructure. Aside for tsunamis, which are, due to their enormous impact to the coastlines, a well-researched phenomena, the importance of other high-frequency oscillations to the sea level extremes is still underrated, as no systematic long-term measurements have been carried out at a minute timescales. Recently, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) established Sea Level Monitoring Facility portal (http://www.ioc-sealevelmonitoring.org), making 1-min sea level data publicly available for several hundred tide gauge sites in the World Ocean. Thereafter, a global assessment of oscillations over tsunami timescales become possible; however, the portal contains raw sea level data only, being unchecked for spikes, shifts, drifts and other malfunctions of instruments. We present a quality assessment of these data, estimates of sea level variances and contributions of high-frequency processes to the extremes throughout the World Ocean. This is accompanied with assessment of atmospheric conditions and processes which generate intense high-frequency oscillations.

Output control using feedforward and cascade controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, H.

1987-01-01

An open-loop solution to the output control problem in SISO (single-input, single-output) systems by means of feedforward and cascade controllers is investigated. A simple characterization of feedforward controllers, which achieve steady-state disturbance rejection, is given in a transfer-function setting. Cascade controllers which cause steady-state command tracking are characterized. Disturbance decoupling and command matching controllers are identified. Conditions for existence of feedforward and cascade controllers are given. For unstable systems, it is shown that a stabilizing feedback controller can be used without affecting the feedforward and cascade controllers used for output control; hence, the three controllers can be designed independently. Output control by a combination of feedforward and feedback is discussed.

Output Control Using Feedforward And Cascade Controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, Homayoun

1990-01-01

Report presents theoretical study of open-loop control elements in single-input, single-output linear system. Focus on output-control (servomechanism) problem, in which objective is to find control scheme that causes output to track certain command inputs and to reject certain disturbance inputs in steady state. Report closes with brief discussion of characteristics and relative merits of feedforward, cascade, and feedback controllers and combinations thereof.

Ballistic Missile Proliferation: An Emerging Threat 1992

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-10-01

ticipation by major countries and an increased Scud B but using a Chinese guidance system. priority by their policymakers before they can en - sure...Soviets. Hepatitis A >4 weeks Hepatitis B >4 weeks A 1970 World Health Organization report con- Turberculosis >4 weeks cluded that biological warfare was... a turbojet en - Range gine, replacing the liquid-propellant motors of the Missile (km) IOC Customers HY-2. The HY-4 has been developed primarily

CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford Class Nuclear Aircraft Carrier (CVN 78)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

Capabil... -Follow-on Ship (CVN 79) DAB Program Review - • Start Construction - • Delivery .-:K IOT &E IOT &E Start .-:41 IOT &E Complete e(41 Follow-on...Ship (CVN 80) DAB Program Review -Platform-Level Integration D ... ....., Milestone C .. EMALS EMALS Delivery (with Ship) .-:o; IOC ..:<! IOT ...E IOT &E Start ..:<! IOT &E Complete -· Platform-Level Integration .. ...:<! CVN 78 Milestones SAR Baseline Dev Est Current APB Development

Analytical determination of space station response to crew motion and design of suspension system for microgravity experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, F. C.

1986-01-01

The objective of this investigation is to make analytical determination of the acceleration produced by crew motion in an orbiting space station and define design parameters for the suspension system of microgravity experiments. A simple structural model for simulation of the IOC space station is proposed. Mathematical formulation of this model provides the engineers a simple and direct tool for designing an effective suspension system.

Current Source Based on H-Bridge Inverter with Output LCL Filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blahnik, Vojtech; Talla, Jakub; Peroutka, Zdenek

2015-09-01

The paper deals with a control of current source with an LCL output filter. The controlled current source is realized as a single-phase inverter and output LCL filter provides low ripple of output current. However, systems incorporating LCL filters require more complex control strategies and there are several interesting approaches to the control of this type of converter. This paper presents the inverter control algorithm, which combines model based control with a direct current control based on resonant controllers and single-phase vector control. The primary goal is to reduce the current ripple and distortion under required limits and provides fast and precise control of output current. The proposed control technique is verified by measurements on the laboratory model.

Organizational Control: Two Functions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ouchi, William G.; Maguire, Mary Ann

1975-01-01

Distinguishes between two modes of organizational control, personal surveillance (behavior control) and the measurement of outputs (output control). Output control occurs in response to a manager's need to provide legitimate evidence of performance, while behavior control is exerted when means-ends relations are known and appropriate instruction…

Output Containment Control of Linear Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems Using Internal Model Principle.

PubMed

Zuo, Shan; Song, Yongduan; Lewis, Frank L; Davoudi, Ali

2017-01-04

This paper studies the output containment control of linear heterogeneous multi-agent systems, where the system dynamics and even the state dimensions can generally be different. Since the states can have different dimensions, standard results from state containment control do not apply. Therefore, the control objective is to guarantee the convergence of the output of each follower to the dynamic convex hull spanned by the outputs of leaders. This can be achieved by making certain output containment errors go to zero asymptotically. Based on this formulation, two different control protocols, namely, full-state feedback and static output-feedback, are designed based on internal model principles. Sufficient local conditions for the existence of the proposed control protocols are developed in terms of stabilizing the local followers' dynamics and satisfying a certain H∞ criterion. Unified design procedures to solve the proposed two control protocols are presented by formulation and solution of certain local state-feedback and static output-feedback problems, respectively. Numerical simulations are given to validate the proposed control protocols.

Interview: partnering with the industry: the Olympic laboratory model.

PubMed

Cowan, David A; Barker, Campbell P

2012-07-01

David A Cowan and Campbell P Barker speak to Ryan De Vooght-Johnson at Bioanalysis in May 2012 about the partnership between industry and academia for the setup and running of the doping-control laboratory for the London 2012 Olympic Games. David A Cowan is Director of the London 2012 anti-doping laboratory as well as Director of the King's College London Drug Control Centre, the UK's only WADA-accredited anti-doping laboratory, and Head of the Department of Forensic Science and Drug Monitoring. Cowan co-founded the Drug Control Centre in 1978 and became its Director in 1990. He has published extensively in the field of pharmaceutical analysis, especially as it relates to detecting drug administration in sport, and was awarded a personal chair in pharmaceutical toxicology in 1996. Cowan became Head of the Department of Forensic Science and Drug Monitoring at King's College London in 2002. He has served on a number of national and international committees, including the Council of Europe Working Party Investigating Drug Abuse in Sport that led to the first World Anti-Doping Convention, the Laboratory Representative on the International Olympic Committee's Medical Commission, and WADA's Laboratory Accreditation Subcommittee. He is a member of the Crippen Club for Distinguished Toxicologists. In 1998 he was awarded the IOC Trophy for Sport Ethics by the BOA. He was a founding member of the World Association of Anti-Doping Scientists and became its first President serving on its Executive Board between 2001 and 2004. He was a Visiting Laboratory Director at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games 2002, where the first novel erythropoiesis-stimulating protein (NESP) positive was discovered. He was also a senior advisory scientist at both the Turin Winter Olympic Games in 2006 and the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. He was also a member of the IOC Medical Commission for the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 and the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games in 2010. The Drug Control Centre undertook the sample analysis during the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and Cowan was Co-Director of the laboratory for the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. Cowan, who has directed the laboratory at King's College London for many years, was a member of the bid team making the presentation to the International Olympic Committee in February 2005. Campbell P Barker has been leading GlaxoSmithKline's delivery of the London 2012 laboratory services since September 2009. Prior to that time he was Director of Global Strategic Projects in GlaxoSmithKline's Consumer Healthcare business from 2006, and from 1994 to 2006 he worked in R&D for Procter & Gamble. Barker holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Durham.

Defining Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) as a contribution to Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs): A Core Task of the Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) to Accelerate Integration of Biological Observations in the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearlman, J.; Muller-Karger, F. E.; Sousa Pinto, I.; Costello, M. J.; Duffy, J. E.; Appeltans, W.; Fischer, A. S.; Canonico, G.; Klein, E.; Obura, D.; Montes, E.; Miloslavich, P.; Howard, M.

2017-12-01

The Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) is a networking effort under the umbrella of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON). The objective of the MBON is to link existing groups engaged in ocean observation and help define practical indices to deploy in an operational manner to track changes in the number of marine species, the abundance and biomass of marine organisms, the diverse interactions between organisms and the environment, and the variability and change of specific habitats of interest. MBON serves as the biodiversity arm of Blue Planet, the initiative of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) for the benefit of society. The Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) was established under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) in 1991 to organize international ocean observing efforts. The mission of the GOOS is to support monitoring to improve the management of marine and coastal ecosystems and resources, and to enable scientific research. GOOS is engaged in a continuing, rigorous process of identifying Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs). MBON is working with GOOS and the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, also under the IOC) to define Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) as those Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) that have explicit taxonomic records associated with them. For practical purposes, EBVs are a subset of the EOVs. The focus is to promote the integration of biological EOVs including EBVs into the existing and planned national and international ocean observing systems. The definition avoids a proliferation of 'essential' variables across multiple organizations. MBON will continue to advance practical and wide use of EBVs and related EOV. This is an effective way to contribute to several UN assessments (e.g., from IPBES, IPCC, and the World Ocean Assessment under the UN Regular Process), UN Sustainable Development Goals, and to address targets and goals defined under the Convention on Biological Diversity. It should provide guidelines for the International (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (IOC XXIX-1, 2017). We invite the community to enter a dialogue with MBON, GOOS, and OBIS to further refine these concepts and build an integrated system to observe life in the sea.

Utility of MRCP in clinical decision making of suspected choledocholithiasis: An institutional analysis and literature review.

PubMed

Badger, Wesley R; Borgert, Andrew J; Kallies, Kara J; Kothari, Shanu N

2017-08-01

The ideal treatment algorithm for suspected choledocholithiasis is not yet well defined. Imaging options include magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), and intraoperative cholangiogram (IOC). MRCP is diagnostic, while the other two modalities can also be therapeutic. Each of these modalities for diagnosis and treatment carries its own set of risks, benefits, and institutional costs. We hypothesized that there would be a significant difference between the biochemical profiles and characteristics of patients who undergo ERCP vs. MRCP vs. operative intervention as the initial choice of treatment/imaging modality. We performed a retrospective review of the electronic medical records for all patients with a coded diagnosis of choledocholithiasis from 2011 to 2014. The initial diagnostic modality was assessed for each hospital encounter. The statistical characteristics of MRCP as compared to fluoroscopic imaging of the biliary tree (ERCP, IOC) were analyzed. Overall, 527 hospital encounters were identified. Initial intervention included ERCP in 63%, MRCP in 12%, and cholecystectomy in 25% of patients. Patients undergoing cholecystectomy first, compared to MRCP or ERCP, tended to have lower values for alkaline phosphatase (P < 0.001) and AST (P = 0.002) as well as be of younger age (P < 0.0001). Of the patients that underwent MRCP as their initial procedure, 82% subsequently underwent either ERCP or laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In patients who underwent an initial MRCP followed by either ERCP or IOC, the predictive performance of MRCP was as follows: sensitivity = 0.90, specificity = 0.86, positive predictive value = 0.97, negative predictive value = 0.60, agreement (Cohen's Kappa) = 0.64. There is a significant difference in the laboratory evaluation and demographics of patients undergoing ERCP, MRCP, and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. MRCP was followed with a more invasive test a majority of the time. Since MRCP did not change the management of patients with suspected choledocholithiasis, its utility in this patient population should be questioned. Further research is needed to better define the pretest characteristics which would predict which patients do not need further intervention after MRCP as well as defining the most cost-effective strategy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

I/O impedance controller

DOEpatents

Ruesch, Rodney; Jenkins, Philip N.; Ma, Nan

2004-03-09

There is disclosed apparatus and apparatus for impedance control to provide for controlling the impedance of a communication circuit using an all-digital impedance control circuit wherein one or more control bits are used to tune the output impedance. In one example embodiment, the impedance control circuit is fabricated using circuit components found in a standard macro library of a computer aided design system. According to another example embodiment, there is provided a control for an output driver on an integrated circuit ("IC") device to provide for forming a resistor divider network with the output driver and a resistor off the IC device so that the divider network produces an output voltage, comparing the output voltage of the divider network with a reference voltage, and adjusting the output impedance of the output driver to attempt to match the output voltage of the divider network and the reference voltage. Also disclosed is over-sampling the divider network voltage, storing the results of the over sampling, repeating the over-sampling and storing, averaging the results of multiple over sampling operations, controlling the impedance with a plurality of bits forming a word, and updating the value of the word by only one least significant bit at a time.

Global robust output regulation control for cascaded nonlinear systems using the internal model principle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Jiang-Bo; Zhao, Yan; Wu, Yu-Qiang

2014-04-01

This article considers the global robust output regulation problem via output feedback for a class of cascaded nonlinear systems with input-to-state stable inverse dynamics. The system uncertainties depend not only on the measured output but also all the unmeasurable states. By introducing an internal model, the output regulation problem is converted into a stabilisation problem for an appropriately augmented system. The designed dynamic controller could achieve the global asymptotic tracking control for a class of time-varying reference signals for the system output while keeping all other closed-loop signals bounded. It is of interest to note that the developed control approach can be applied to the speed tracking control of the fan speed control system. The simulation results demonstrate its effectiveness.

Director, Operational Test and Evaluation FY 2006 Annual Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-12-01

Comstock ( LSD 45); and the USS McClusky (FFG 41). Activity • In Aprl 2006, the Jont Interoperablty Test Command conducted a Generation One, IOC 2...Monthan AFB, Arizona; the 609th Air Mobility Operations Squadron at Shaw AFB, South Carolina; the 83rd Communications Squadron at Langley AFB...as the combat system in LSD 41/49-class ships. • SSDS Mark 2 has four variants: - The Mod 1 is in development for CVN 68 class aircraft carrers

Joint Precision Approach and Landing System Increment 1A (JPALS Inc 1A)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) RCS: DD-A&T(Q&A)823-238 Joint Precision Approach and Landing System Increment 1A (JPALS Inc 1A) As of FY 2017...President’s Budget Defense Acquisition Management Information Retrieval (DAMIR) March 10, 2016 11:30:56 UNCLASSIFIED JPALS Inc 1A December 2015 SAR...Fiscal Year FYDP - Future Years Defense Program ICE - Independent Cost Estimate IOC - Initial Operational Capability Inc - Increment JROC - Joint

Grays Harbor and Chehalis River Improvements to Navigation Environmental Studies. Wildlife Studies at Proposed Disposal Sites in Grays Harbor, Washington,

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-01-01

sltand. T 𔃼~P i’ W 210 three times VtwCerI November IOC’C -nd ~co l.Etls ~ ec!,!zervc-o betxwe H -gF 12 Th -ind hl rway u- 7Plie Sicuobh. E. Cumin -s 1... stress imposed by dredge dsosal ;ictivities on these species. It is difficult to rredict the effects of establishing a salt marsh in Grays Harbor on

Modeling and Analysis of Target Echo and Clutter in Range-Dependent Bistatic Environments: FY13 Annual Report for ONR

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) (of UNESCO ) and the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), British Oceanographic Data... LA , USA, 27 Nov – 1 Dec 2007. [PT09] John S. Perkins and Eric I. Thorsos. Update on the reverberation modeling workshops. J. Acoust. Soc. Am...Undersea Research Centre, La Spezia, Italy, 2008. Conference held at Villa Marigola, Lerici, Italy, 9–12 September 2008. [ZAS10] Mario Zampolli

Measuring the Operational Readiness of an Air Force Network Warfare Squadron

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

Abstract As part of its unit activation, the 315th Network Warfare Squadron (NWS) needed to measure and report its progression of unit readiness...NWS unit readiness should be measured and reported by SORTS Category Levels (C-Level) to support wartime missions, not by IOC and FOC milestones...This paper reviews SORTS computations and provides a case study of a notional Air Force NWS to propose that any new cyber squadron should report

Acquisition Program Transition Workshops: An Element of the DSMC Program Manager Mission Assistance Capability

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

specific modules as needed. The term “startup” is inclusive of any point in a DoD acquisition program. As noted above, methodology for conducting...Acquisition Sustainment =Decision Point =Milestone Review =Decision Point if PDR is not conducted before Milestone B ProgramA B Initiation) C IOC FOC...start a new program 2.2 Background Conclusions flowing from these observations led the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the De - fense Acquisition

Field Surveys, IOC Valleys. Volume III, Part I. Cultural Resources Survey, Dry Lake Valley, Nevada.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

and from* Catherine Fowler, Great Basin ethnographer and bibliographer. Personnel from Facilitators, Inc. and HDR provided information on contemporary...Caliente (see Figure 1-6 above). Together with Muleshoe Valley to the north, it occupies a surficially closel trough in the Basin and Range physiographic...province of the Great Basin (Eakin, ; Fenneman, 1931). It is bounded on the east by the Burnt Springs, Ely, Highland, and aristol ranges. The Chief

The cross-cultural adaptation of the DASH questionnaire in Thai (DASH-TH).

PubMed

Tongprasert, Siam; Rapipong, Jeeranan; Buntragulpoontawee, Montana

2014-01-01

Clinical measurement. Currently there are no self-report questionnaires in Thai to evaluate disability levels in patients suffering from upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders. To translate and cross-cultural adaptation the disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) questionnaire to Thai version and to evaluate content validity, construct validity and internal consistency of the questionnaire. The DASH-TH was produced by following cross-cultural adaptation guidelines stated by the Institute for Work and Health (IWH). Forty Thai patients with arm, shoulder or hand problems participated in field testing of the questionnaire. Content validity was determined by obtaining the item-objective congruence (IOC) value for each questionnaire item. Correlation between the DASH-TH score and numeric rating scale was used to assess construct validity. Internal consistency of DASH-TH was measured using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Forty patients (14 males, 26 females) with arm, shoulder or hand problems enrolled in the present study. The average age of patients was 44.8 years. The index of item-objective congruence (IOC) of each item ranged from 0.7 to 1.0. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the questionnaire was 0.938. There was no correlation between DASH-TH score and numeric rating scale. The DASH-TH has high content validity and internal consistency. N/A. Copyright © 2014 Hanley & Belfus. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantitative Magnetic Separation of Particles and Cells Using Gradient Magnetic Ratcheting.

PubMed

Murray, Coleman; Pao, Edward; Tseng, Peter; Aftab, Shayan; Kulkarni, Rajan; Rettig, Matthew; Di Carlo, Dino

2016-04-13

Extraction of rare target cells from biosamples is enabling for life science research. Traditional rare cell separation techniques, such as magnetic activated cell sorting, are robust but perform coarse, qualitative separations based on surface antigen expression. A quantitative magnetic separation technology is reported using high-force magnetic ratcheting over arrays of magnetically soft micropillars with gradient spacing, and the system is used to separate and concentrate magnetic beads based on iron oxide content (IOC) and cells based on surface expression. The system consists of a microchip of permalloy micropillar arrays with increasing lateral pitch and a mechatronic device to generate a cycling magnetic field. Particles with higher IOC separate and equilibrate along the miropillar array at larger pitches. A semi-analytical model is developed that predicts behavior for particles and cells. Using the system, LNCaP cells are separated based on the bound quantity of 1 μm anti-epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) particles as a metric for expression. The ratcheting cytometry system is able to resolve a ±13 bound particle differential, successfully distinguishing LNCaP from PC3 populations based on EpCAM expression, correlating with flow cytometry analysis. As a proof-of-concept, EpCAM-labeled cells from patient blood are isolated with 74% purity, demonstrating potential toward a quantitative magnetic separation instrument. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Quaternion-based adaptive output feedback attitude control of spacecraft using Chebyshev neural networks.

PubMed

Zou, An-Min; Dev Kumar, Krishna; Hou, Zeng-Guang

2010-09-01

This paper investigates the problem of output feedback attitude control of an uncertain spacecraft. Two robust adaptive output feedback controllers based on Chebyshev neural networks (CNN) termed adaptive neural networks (NN) controller-I and adaptive NN controller-II are proposed for the attitude tracking control of spacecraft. The four-parameter representations (quaternion) are employed to describe the spacecraft attitude for global representation without singularities. The nonlinear reduced-order observer is used to estimate the derivative of the spacecraft output, and the CNN is introduced to further improve the control performance through approximating the spacecraft attitude motion. The implementation of the basis functions of the CNN used in the proposed controllers depends only on the desired signals, and the smooth robust compensator using the hyperbolic tangent function is employed to counteract the CNN approximation errors and external disturbances. The adaptive NN controller-II can efficiently avoid the over-estimation problem (i.e., the bound of the CNNs output is much larger than that of the approximated unknown function, and hence, the control input may be very large) existing in the adaptive NN controller-I. Both adaptive output feedback controllers using CNN can guarantee that all signals in the resulting closed-loop system are uniformly ultimately bounded. For performance comparisons, the standard adaptive controller using the linear parameterization of spacecraft attitude motion is also developed. Simulation studies are presented to show the advantages of the proposed CNN-based output feedback approach over the standard adaptive output feedback approach.

Algorithms for output feedback, multiple-model, and decentralized control problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halyo, N.; Broussard, J. R.

1984-01-01

The optimal stochastic output feedback, multiple-model, and decentralized control problems with dynamic compensation are formulated and discussed. Algorithms for each problem are presented, and their relationship to a basic output feedback algorithm is discussed. An aircraft control design problem is posed as a combined decentralized, multiple-model, output feedback problem. A control design is obtained using the combined algorithm. An analysis of the design is presented.

Charge control microcomputer device for vehicles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morishita, M.; Kouge, S.

1986-10-14

This patent describes a charge control microcomputer device for a vehicle, comprising: speed changing means for transmitting the output torque of an engine. The speed changing means includes a slip clutch means having an output with a variable slippage amount with respect to its input and controlled in accordance with an operating instruction. The speed changing means further includes a speed change gear for changing the rotational speed input thereto at an output thereto, the speed change gear receiving the output of the slip clutch means; a charging generator driven by the output of the speed change gear; a batterymore » charged by an output voltage of the charging generator; a voltage regulator for controlling the output voltage of the charging generator to a predetermined value; an engine controlling microcomputer for receiving data from the engine, to control the engine, the engine data comprising at least an engine speed signal; a charge control microcomputer for processing engine data from the engine controlling microcomputer and charge system data including terminal voltage data from the battery and generated voltage data from the changing generator; and a display unit for displaying detection data, including fault detection data, form the charge control microcomputer.« less

Data-Based Predictive Control with Multirate Prediction Step

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barlow, Jonathan S.

2010-01-01

Data-based predictive control is an emerging control method that stems from Model Predictive Control (MPC). MPC computes current control action based on a prediction of the system output a number of time steps into the future and is generally derived from a known model of the system. Data-based predictive control has the advantage of deriving predictive models and controller gains from input-output data. Thus, a controller can be designed from the outputs of complex simulation code or a physical system where no explicit model exists. If the output data happens to be corrupted by periodic disturbances, the designed controller will also have the built-in ability to reject these disturbances without the need to know them. When data-based predictive control is implemented online, it becomes a version of adaptive control. One challenge of MPC is computational requirements increasing with prediction horizon length. This paper develops a closed-loop dynamic output feedback controller that minimizes a multi-step-ahead receding-horizon cost function with multirate prediction step. One result is a reduced influence of prediction horizon and the number of system outputs on the computational requirements of the controller. Another result is an emphasis on portions of the prediction window that are sampled more frequently. A third result is the ability to include more outputs in the feedback path than in the cost function.

Adaptive control system for pulsed megawatt klystrons

DOEpatents

Bolie, Victor W.

1992-01-01

The invention provides an arrangement for reducing waveform errors such as errors in phase or amplitude in output pulses produced by pulsed power output devices such as klystrons by generating an error voltage representing the extent of error still present in the trailing edge of the previous output pulse, using the error voltage to provide a stored control voltage, and applying the stored control voltage to the pulsed power output device to limit the extent of error in the leading edge of the next output pulse.

Proposed Navy Software Acquisition Improvement Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-16

Production and Deployment Operations and Support PRR IOC FOC OTRR DoD/ASN/RDA Policies Call for Gov’t SMEs to Define System Req’s, Support Milestone Reviews...of the SW; but with Gov’t Software SME oversight and insight W o A B C 12 Statement A: Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited 12...Comp, Segment levels is not sufficient to ensure & meet OA goalsSegment Level CSCIs CSCs Level of De SW CSCI 2 SW CSCI 1 SW CSCI ### Gov’t SW SMEs

Gas and water recycling system for IOC vivarium experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nitta, K.; Otsubo, K.

1986-01-01

Water and gas recycling units designed as one of the common experiment support system for the life science experiment facilities used in the Japanese Experiment Module are discussed. These units will save transportation and operation costs for the life science experiments in the space station. These units are also designed to have interfaces so simple that the connection to another life science experiment facilities such as the Research Animal Holding Facility developed by the Rockheed Missiles and Space Company can be easily done with small modification.

Field Surveys, IOC Valleys. Volume III, Part II. Cultural Resources Survey, Pine and Wah Wah Valleys, Utah.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

valleys are typical of the Basin and Range Province, characterized by parallel, north-south trending mountain ranges, separated by hydrologically closed... basins . Pine and Wah Wah valleys each have hardpan-playas in their lowest areas. State Highway 21 runs roughly northwest-southeast through both val...have been important for prehis- toric and historic use of the area. Pine Valley: Pine and Wah Wah valleys are closed alluvial basins . The central part

Field Surveys, IOC Valleys. Volume II, Part II. Biological Resources Survey, Pine and Wah Wah Valleys, Utah.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

Colorado Plateau, and the Uinta Mountains. The Great Basin , which is the largest division, is divided into nine sections. Pine and Wah Wah * valleys lie...unconfirmed reports of sightings from Uinta Basin in 1972 and 1975, from New Green River in 1976, and from Rich and Emery counties in 1977 and 1978. The...Fish and Wildlife Service, Boise, Idaho, Personal communication, 3 April. Graham, E. H., 1937, Botanical studies in the Uinta Basin of Utah and Colorado

Systems and methods for compensating for electrical converter nonlinearities

DOEpatents

Perisic, Milun; Ransom, Ray M.; Kajouke, Lateef A.

2013-06-18

Systems and methods are provided for delivering energy from an input interface to an output interface. An electrical system includes an input interface, an output interface, an energy conversion module coupled between the input interface and the output interface, and a control module. The control module determines a duty cycle control value for operating the energy conversion module to produce a desired voltage at the output interface. The control module determines an input power error at the input interface and adjusts the duty cycle control value in a manner that is influenced by the input power error, resulting in a compensated duty cycle control value. The control module operates switching elements of the energy conversion module to deliver energy to the output interface with a duty cycle that is influenced by the compensated duty cycle control value.

Non-synchronous control of self-oscillating resonant converters

DOEpatents

Glaser, John Stanley; Zane, Regan Andrew

2002-01-01

A self-oscillating switching power converter has a controllable reactance including an active device connected to a reactive element, wherein the effective reactance of the reactance and the active device is controlled such that the control waveform for the active device is binary digital and is not synchronized with the switching converter output frequency. The active device is turned completely on and off at a frequency that is substantially greater than the maximum frequency imposed on the output terminals of the active device. The effect is to vary the average resistance across the active device output terminals, and thus the effective output reactance, thereby providing converter output control, while maintaining the response speed of the converter.

ForTrilinos Design Document

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Young, Mitchell T.; Johnson, Seth R.; Prokopenko, Andrey V.

With the development of a Fortran Interface to Trilinos, ForTrilinos, modelers using modern Fortran will beable to provide their codes the capability to use solvers and other capabilities on exascale machines via astraightforward infrastructure that accesses Trilinos. This document outlines what Fortrilinos does andexplains briefly how it works. We show it provides a general access to packages via an entry point and usesan xml file from fortran code. With the first release, ForTrilinos will enable Teuchos to take xml parameterlists from Fortran code and set up data structures. It will provide access to linear solvers and eigensolvers.Several examples are providedmore » to illustrate the capabilities in practice. We explain what the user shouldhave already with their code and what Trilinos provides and returns to the Fortran code. We provideinformation about the build process for ForTrilinos, with a practical example. In future releases, nonlinearsolvers, time iteration, advanced preconditioning techniques, and inversion of control (IoC), to enablecallbacks to Fortran routines, will be available.« less

Integrated control system and method

DOEpatents

Wang, Paul Sai Keat; Baldwin, Darryl; Kim, Myoungjin

2013-10-29

An integrated control system for use with an engine connected to a generator providing electrical power to a switchgear is disclosed. The engine receives gas produced by a gasifier. The control system includes an electronic controller associated with the gasifier, engine, generator, and switchgear. A gas flow sensor monitors a gas flow from the gasifier to the engine through an engine gas control valve and provides a gas flow signal to the electronic controller. A gas oversupply sensor monitors a gas oversupply from the gasifier and provides an oversupply signal indicative of gas not provided to the engine. A power output sensor monitors a power output of the switchgear and provide a power output signal. The electronic controller changes gas production of the gasifier and the power output rating of the switchgear based on the gas flow signal, the oversupply signal, and the power output signal.

Charge control microcomputer device for vehicle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morishita, M.; Kouge, S.

1986-08-26

A charge control microcomputer device is described for a vehicle, comprising: an AC generator driven by an engine for generating an output current, the generator having armature coils and a field coil; a battery charged by a rectified output of the generator and generating a terminal voltage; a voltage regulator for controlling a current flowing in the field coil, to control an output voltage of the generator to a predetermined value; an engine controlling microcomputer for receiving engine parameter data from the engine, to control the operation of the engine; a charge control microcomputer for processing input data including datamore » on at least one engine parameter output from the engine controlling microcomputer, and charge system data including at least one of battery terminal voltage data, generator voltage data and generator output current data, to provide a reference voltage for the voltage regulator.« less

Multiple feedback control apparatus for power conditioning equipment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biess, John (Inventor); Yu, Yuan (Inventor)

1977-01-01

An improved feedback control system to govern the cyclic operation of the power switch of a non-dissipative power conditioning equipment. The apparatus includes two or three control loops working in unison. The first causes the output DC level to be compared with a reference, and the error amplified for control purposes. The second utilizes the AC component of the voltage across the output filter inductor or the current through the output filter capacitor, and the third loop senses the output transients.

An exact algebraic solution of the infimum in H-infinity optimization with output feedback

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, Ben M.; Saberi, Ali; Ly, Uy-Loi

1991-01-01

This paper presents a simple and noniterative procedure for the computation of the exact value of the infimum in the standard H-infinity-optimal control with output feedback. The problem formulation is general and does not place any restrictions on the direct feedthrough terms between the control input and the controlled output variables, and between the disturbance input and the measurement output variables. The method is applicable to systems that satisfy (1) the transfer function from the control input to the controlled output is right-invertible and has no invariant zeros on the j(w) axis and, (2) the transfer function from the disturbance to the measurement output is left-invertible and has no invariant zeros on the j(w) axis. A set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the solvability of H-infinity-almost disturbance decoupling problem via measurement feedback with internal stability is also given.

Malignant tumors associated with ovarian mature teratoma: A single institution experience.

PubMed

Trabzonlu, Levent; Durmaz, Guray; Vural, Cigdem; Muezzinoglu, Bahar; Corakci, Aydin

2017-05-01

The aims of this study are to present demographical features of cases diagnosed with malignant tumor associated with ovarian mature teratoma and to analyze histopathological features and clinical follow up of these tumors. Single-institution retrospective charts were reviewed to identify all cases of ovarian mature teratoma diagnosed from 1998 to 2015. Clinicopathological parameters that were analyzed include age, tumor size, tumor stage, histological type, laterality, IOC diagnosis and whether or not patient has received adjuvant chemotherapy. A total of 218 ovarian mature teratoma cases were identified during the study period. Of the 218 ovarian mature teratoma specimens, eight (3.7%) exhibited malignant tumors. The average age for cases of malignancy associated with ovarian mature teratoma was 44.6 years. The average size of tumors was 10.36cm. On final pathology, histological types of tumors were as follows: two cases each of squamous cell carcinoma and papillary thyroid carcinoma; one case each of mucinous adenocarcinoma, metastatic adenocarcinoma, sebaceous carcinoma and oligodendroglioma. Only one patient with Stage IIB tumor died of disease. One patient was alive with metastatic disease two months after initial diagnosis. Mean and median follow-up times were 64.1 and 49 months, respectively. An ovarian mass that has characteristics of a teratoma in a postmenopausal patient should alert for malignancy -regardless of tumor size. IOC is a valuable tool for the detection of malignancy and should be requested to determine the modality of surgical approach. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

SIRTF Focal Plane Survey: A Pre-flight Error Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bayard, David S.; Brugarolas, Paul B.; Boussalis, Dhemetrios; Kang, Bryan H.

2003-01-01

This report contains a pre-flight error analysis of the calibration accuracies expected from implementing the currently planned SIRTF focal plane survey strategy. The main purpose of this study is to verify that the planned strategy will meet focal plane survey calibration requirements (as put forth in the SIRTF IOC-SV Mission Plan [4]), and to quantify the actual accuracies expected. The error analysis was performed by running the Instrument Pointing Frame (IPF) Kalman filter on a complete set of simulated IOC-SV survey data, and studying the resulting propagated covariances. The main conclusion of this study is that the all focal plane calibration requirements can be met with the currently planned survey strategy. The associated margins range from 3 to 95 percent, and tend to be smallest for frames having a 0.14" requirement, and largest for frames having a more generous 0.28" (or larger) requirement. The smallest margin of 3 percent is associated with the IRAC 3.6 and 5.8 micron array centers (frames 068 and 069), and the largest margin of 95 percent is associated with the MIPS 160 micron array center (frame 087). For pointing purposes, the most critical calibrations are for the IRS Peakup sweet spots and short wavelength slit centers (frames 019, 023, 052, 028, 034). Results show that these frames are meeting their 0.14" requirements with an expected accuracy of approximately 0.1", which corresponds to a 28 percent margin.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shepard, Kenneth L.; Sturcken, Noah Andrew

Power controller includes an output terminal having an output voltage, at least one clock generator to generate a plurality of clock signals and a plurality of hardware phases. Each hardware phase is coupled to the at least one clock generator and the output terminal and includes a comparator. Each hardware phase is configured to receive a corresponding one of the plurality of clock signals and a reference voltage, combine the corresponding clock signal and the reference voltage to produce a reference input, generate a feedback voltage based on the output voltage, compare the reference input and the feedback voltage usingmore » the comparator and provide a comparator output to the output terminal, whereby the comparator output determines a duty cycle of the power controller. An integrated circuit including the power controller is also provided.« less

Engineering Design of ITER Prototype Fast Plant System Controller

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goncalves, B.; Sousa, J.; Carvalho, B.; Rodrigues, A. P.; Correia, M.; Batista, A.; Vega, J.; Ruiz, M.; Lopez, J. M.; Rojo, R. Castro; Wallander, A.; Utzel, N.; Neto, A.; Alves, D.; Valcarcel, D.

2011-08-01

The ITER control, data access and communication (CODAC) design team identified the need for two types of plant systems. A slow control plant system is based on industrial automation technology with maximum sampling rates below 100 Hz, and a fast control plant system is based on embedded technology with higher sampling rates and more stringent real-time requirements than that required for slow controllers. The latter is applicable to diagnostics and plant systems in closed-control loops whose cycle times are below 1 ms. Fast controllers will be dedicated industrial controllers with the ability to supervise other fast and/or slow controllers, interface to actuators and sensors and, if necessary, high performance networks. Two prototypes of a fast plant system controller specialized for data acquisition and constrained by ITER technological choices are being built using two different form factors. This prototyping activity contributes to the Plant Control Design Handbook effort of standardization, specifically regarding fast controller characteristics. Envisaging a general purpose fast controller design, diagnostic use cases with specific requirements were analyzed and will be presented along with the interface with CODAC and sensors. The requirements and constraints that real-time plasma control imposes on the design were also taken into consideration. Functional specifications and technology neutral architecture, together with its implications on the engineering design, were considered. The detailed engineering design compliant with ITER standards was performed and will be discussed in detail. Emphasis will be given to the integration of the controller in the standard CODAC environment. Requirements for the EPICS IOC providing the interface to the outside world, the prototype decisions on form factor, real-time operating system, and high-performance networks will also be discussed, as well as the requirements for data streaming to CODAC for visualization and archiving.

Compensation for electrical converter nonlinearities

DOEpatents

Perisic, Milun; Ransom, Ray M; Kajouke, Lateef A

2013-11-19

Systems and methods are provided for delivering energy from an input interface to an output interface. An electrical system includes an input interface, an output interface, an energy conversion module between the input interface and the output interface, an inductive element between the input interface and the energy conversion module, and a control module. The control module determines a compensated duty cycle control value for operating the energy conversion module to produce a desired voltage at the output interface and operates the energy conversion module to deliver energy to the output interface with a duty cycle that is influenced by the compensated duty cycle control value. The compensated duty cycle control value is influenced by the current through the inductive element and accounts for voltage across the switching elements of the energy conversion module.

H∞ output tracking control of discrete-time nonlinear systems via standard neural network models.

PubMed

Liu, Meiqin; Zhang, Senlin; Chen, Haiyang; Sheng, Weihua

2014-10-01

This brief proposes an output tracking control for a class of discrete-time nonlinear systems with disturbances. A standard neural network model is used to represent discrete-time nonlinear systems whose nonlinearity satisfies the sector conditions. H∞ control performance for the closed-loop system including the standard neural network model, the reference model, and state feedback controller is analyzed using Lyapunov-Krasovskii stability theorem and linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach. The H∞ controller, of which the parameters are obtained by solving LMIs, guarantees that the output of the closed-loop system closely tracks the output of a given reference model well, and reduces the influence of disturbances on the tracking error. Three numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed H∞ output tracking design approach.

Finite-time output feedback stabilization of high-order uncertain nonlinear systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Meng-Meng; Xie, Xue-Jun; Zhang, Kemei

2018-06-01

This paper studies the problem of finite-time output feedback stabilization for a class of high-order nonlinear systems with the unknown output function and control coefficients. Under the weaker assumption that output function is only continuous, by using homogeneous domination method together with adding a power integrator method, introducing a new analysis method, the maximal open sector Ω of output function is given. As long as output function belongs to any closed sector included in Ω, an output feedback controller can be developed to guarantee global finite-time stability of the closed-loop system.

Closeout of CRADA JSA 2012S004: Chapter 5, Integrated Control System, of the document of the ESS Conceptual Design Report, publicly available at https://europeanspallationsource.se/accelerator-documents

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Satogata, Todd

2013-04-22

The integrated control system (ICS) is responsible for the whole ESS machine and facility: accelerator, target, neutron scattering instruments and conventional facilities. This unified approach keeps the costs of development, maintenance and support relatively low. ESS has selected a standardised, field-proven controls framework, the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), which was originally developed jointly by Argonne and Los Alamos National Laboratories. Complementing this selection are best practices and experience from similar facilities regarding platform standardisation, control system development and device integration and commissioning. The components of ICS include the control system core, the control boxes, the BLED databasemore » management system, and the human machine interface. The control system core is a set of systems and tools that make it possible for the control system to provide required data, information and services to engineers, operators, physicists and the facility itself. The core components are the timing system that makes possible clock synchronisation across the facility, the machine protection system (MPS) and the personnel protection system (PPS) that prevent damage to the machine and personnel, and a set of control system services. Control boxes are servers that control a collection of equipment (for example a radio frequency cavity). The integrated control system will include many control boxes that can be assigned to one supplier, such as an internal team, a collaborating institute or a commercial vendor. This approach facilitates a clear division of responsibilities and makes integration much easier. A control box is composed of a standardised hardware platform, components, development tools and services. On the top level, it interfaces with the core control system components (timing, MPS, PPS) and with the human-machine interface. At the bottom, it interfaces with the equipment and parts of the facility through a set of analog and digital signals, real-time control loops and other communication buses. The ICS central data management system is named BLED (beam line element databases). BLED is a set of databases, tools and services that is used to store, manage and access data. It holds vital control system configuration and physics-related (lattice) information about the accelerator, target and instruments. It facilitates control system configuration by bringing together direct input-output controller (IOC) con guration and real-time data from proton and neutron beam line models. BLED also simplifies development and speeds up the code-test-debug cycle. The set of tools that access BLED will be tailored to the needs of different categories of users, such as ESS staff physicists, engineers, and operators; external partner laboratories; and visiting experimental instrument users. The human-machine interface is vital to providing a high-quality experience to ICS users. It encompasses a wide array of devices and software tools, from control room screens to engineer terminal windows; from beam physics data tools to post-mortem data analysis tools. It serves users with a wide range of skills from widely varied backgrounds. The Controls Group is developing a set of user profiles to accommodate this diverse range of use-cases and users.« less

The minimum control authority of a system of actuators with applications to Gravity Probe-B

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiktor, Peter; Debra, Dan

1991-01-01

The forcing capabilities of systems composed of many actuators are analyzed in this paper. Multiactuator systems can generate higher forces in some directions than in others. Techniques are developed to find the force in the weakest direction. This corresponds to the worst-case output and is defined as the 'minimum control authority'. The minimum control authority is a function of three things: the actuator configuration, the actuator controller and the way in which the output of the system is limited. Three output limits are studied: (1) fuel-flow rate, (2) power, and (3) actuator output. The three corresponding actuator controllers are derived. These controllers generate the desired force while minimizing either fuel flow rate, power or actuator output. It is shown that using the optimal controller can substantially increase the minimum control authority. The techniques for calculating the minimum control authority are applied to the Gravity Probe-B spacecraft thruster system. This example shows that the minimum control authority can be used to design the individual actuators, choose actuator configuration, actuator controller, and study redundancy.

Multivariable control of a forward swept wing aircraft. M.S. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quinn, W. W.

1986-01-01

The impact of independent canard and flaperon control of the longitudinal axis of a generic forward swept wing aircraft is examined. The Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG)/Loop Transfer Recovery (LTR) method is used to design three compensators: two single-input-single-output (SISO) systems, one with angle of attack as output and canard as control, the other with pitch attitude as output and canard as control, and a two-input-two-output system with both canard and flaperon controlling both the pitch attitude and angle of attack. The performances of the three systems are compared showing the addition of flaperon control allows the aircraft to perform in the precision control modes with very little loss of command following accuracy.

Automatic insulation resistance testing apparatus

DOEpatents

Wyant, Francis J.; Nowlen, Steven P.; Luker, Spencer M.

2005-06-14

An apparatus and method for automatic measurement of insulation resistances of a multi-conductor cable. In one embodiment of the invention, the apparatus comprises a power supply source, an input measuring means, an output measuring means, a plurality of input relay controlled contacts, a plurality of output relay controlled contacts, a relay controller and a computer. In another embodiment of the invention the apparatus comprises a power supply source, an input measuring means, an output measuring means, an input switching unit, an output switching unit and a control unit/data logger. Embodiments of the apparatus of the invention may also incorporate cable fire testing means. The apparatus and methods of the present invention use either voltage or current for input and output measured variables.

Precision digital pulse phase generator

DOEpatents

McEwan, T.E.

1996-10-08

A timing generator comprises a crystal oscillator connected to provide an output reference pulse. A resistor-capacitor combination is connected to provide a variable-delay output pulse from an input connected to the crystal oscillator. A phase monitor is connected to provide duty-cycle representations of the reference and variable-delay output pulse phase. An operational amplifier drives a control voltage to the resistor-capacitor combination according to currents integrated from the phase monitor and injected into summing junctions. A digital-to-analog converter injects a control current into the summing junctions according to an input digital control code. A servo equilibrium results that provides a phase delay of the variable-delay output pulse to the output reference pulse that linearly depends on the input digital control code. 2 figs.

Precision digital pulse phase generator

DOEpatents

McEwan, Thomas E.

1996-01-01

A timing generator comprises a crystal oscillator connected to provide an output reference pulse. A resistor-capacitor combination is connected to provide a variable-delay output pulse from an input connected to the crystal oscillator. A phase monitor is connected to provide duty-cycle representations of the reference and variable-delay output pulse phase. An operational amplifier drives a control voltage to the resistor-capacitor combination according to currents integrated from the phase monitor and injected into summing junctions. A digital-to-analog converter injects a control current into the summing junctions according to an input digital control code. A servo equilibrium results that provides a phase delay of the variable-delay output pulse to the output reference pulse that linearly depends on the input digital control code.

Application of modern control theory to the design of optimum aircraft controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Power, L. J.

1973-01-01

The synthesis procedure presented is based on the solution of the output regulator problem of linear optimal control theory for time-invariant systems. By this technique, solution of the matrix Riccati equation leads to a constant linear feedback control law for an output regulator which will maintain a plant in a particular equilibrium condition in the presence of impulse disturbances. Two simple algorithms are presented that can be used in an automatic synthesis procedure for the design of maneuverable output regulators requiring only selected state variables for feedback. The first algorithm is for the construction of optimal feedforward control laws that can be superimposed upon a Kalman output regulator and that will drive the output of a plant to a desired constant value on command. The second algorithm is for the construction of optimal Luenberger observers that can be used to obtain feedback control laws for the output regulator requiring measurement of only part of the state vector. This algorithm constructs observers which have minimum response time under the constraint that the magnitude of the gains in the observer filter be less than some arbitrary limit.

Robust decentralized controller for minimizing coupling effect in single inductor multiple output DC-DC converter operating in continuous conduction mode.

PubMed

Medeiros, Renan Landau Paiva de; Barra, Walter; Bessa, Iury Valente de; Chaves Filho, João Edgar; Ayres, Florindo Antonio de Cavalho; Neves, Cleonor Crescêncio das

2018-02-01

This paper describes a novel robust decentralized control design methodology for a single inductor multiple output (SIMO) DC-DC converter. Based on a nominal multiple input multiple output (MIMO) plant model and performance requirements, a pairing input-output analysis is performed to select the suitable input to control each output aiming to attenuate the loop coupling. Thus, the plant uncertainty limits are selected and expressed in interval form with parameter values of the plant model. A single inductor dual output (SIDO) DC-DC buck converter board is developed for experimental tests. The experimental results show that the proposed methodology can maintain a desirable performance even in the presence of parametric uncertainties. Furthermore, the performance indexes calculated from experimental data show that the proposed methodology outperforms classical MIMO control techniques. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Caribbean Sea Level Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Hillebrandt-Andrade, C.; Crespo Jones, H.

2012-12-01

Over the past 500 years almost 100 tsunamis have been observed in the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, with at least 3510 people having lost their lives to this hazard since 1842. Furthermore, with the dramatic increase in population and infrastructure along the Caribbean coasts, today, millions of coastal residents, workers and visitors are vulnerable to tsunamis. The UNESCO IOC Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunamis and other Coastal Hazards for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (CARIBE EWS) was established in 2005 to coordinate and advance the regional tsunami warning system. The CARIBE EWS focuses on four areas/working groups: (1) Monitoring and Warning, (2) Hazard and Risk Assessment, (3) Communication and (4) Education, Preparedness and Readiness. The sea level monitoring component is under Working Group 1. Although in the current system, it's the seismic data and information that generate the initial tsunami bulletins, it is the data from deep ocean buoys (DARTS) and the coastal sea level gauges that are critical for the actual detection and forecasting of tsunamis impact. Despite multiple efforts and investments in the installation of sea level stations in the region, in 2004 there were only a handful of sea level stations operational in the region (Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Bahamas). Over the past 5 years there has been a steady increase in the number of stations operating in the Caribbean region. As of mid 2012 there were 7 DARTS and 37 coastal gauges with additional ones being installed or funded. In order to reach the goal of 100 operational coastal sea level stations in the Caribbean, the CARIBE EWS recognizes also the importance of maintaining the current stations. For this, a trained workforce in the region for the installation, operation and data analysis and quality control is considered to be critical. Since 2008, three training courses have been offered to the sea level station operators and data analysts. Other requirements and factors have been considered for the sustainability of the stations. The sea level stations have to potentially sustain very aggressive conditions of not only tsunamis, but on a more regular basis, hurricanes. Given the requirement that the data be available in near real time, for tsunami and other coastal hazard application, robust communication systems are also essential. For the local operator, the ability to be able to visualize the data is critical and tools like the IOC Sea level Monitoring Facility and the Tide Tool program are very useful. It has also been emphasized the need for these stations to serve multiple purposes. For climate and other research applications the data need to be archived, QC'd and analyzed. Increasing the user base for the sea level data has also been seen as an important goal to gain the local buy in; local weather and meteorological offices are considered as key stakeholders but for whom applications still need to be developed. The CARIBE EWS continues to look forward to working with other IOC partners including the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) and Sub-Commission for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (IOCARIBE)/GOOS, as well as with local, national and global sea level station operators and agencies for the development of a sustainable sea level network.

The Transformation of Oil; the Future of Pemex

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-28

The Second Largest Oil Field in the World is Dying," Energy Bulletin, Aug 18, 2004:1 14 Manik Talwani, PhD, "Oil and Gas in Mexico: Geology ...fields and prospective fields. Pemex has been drilling in the Golden lane for years with both the Cerro Azul No. 4 and Poza Rica fields as...oil that is pumped from the ground, but the company is paid a fee for each barrel they pump. The IOCs in turn pick up a share of the cost to find and

Fractional Order and Dynamic Simulation of a System Involving an Elastic Wide Plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

David, S. A.; Balthazar, J. M.; Julio, B. H. S.; Oliveira, C.

2011-09-01

Numerous researchers have studied about nonlinear dynamics in several areas of science and engineering. However, in most cases, these concepts have been explored mainly from the standpoint of analytical and computational methods involving integer order calculus (IOC). In this paper we have examined the dynamic behavior of an elastic wide plate induced by two electromagnets of a point of view of the fractional order calculus (FOC). The primary focus of this study is on to help gain a better understanding of nonlinear dynamic in fractional order systems.

The Sundown of the United States Marine Corps Naval Flight Officer Military Occupational Specialties

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-20

EIA-6B Electronics Warfare Officer (EWO) will complete their training in FY2015 and FY2017, respectively, with the last Fl A-18D and El A-6B squadrons...Capability (IOC) of the F-4 Phantom, A-6 Intruder, and the OV -10 Bronco introduced the requirement for Naval Flight Officers and Aerial Observers (AO...Officer (ECMO) to target Surface to Air Radars during the Vietnam War and was subsequently replaced by the four-seat E/A-6B. The OV-10 Bronco , roc in

Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

LRIP Decision/Contract Award JAN 2001 JAN 2001 JAN 2002 DEC 2001 Lot II Contract Award JAN 2002 JAN 2002 JAN 2003 NOV 2002 RAA /B-52 SEP 2002 SEP 2002...SEP 2003 SEP 2003 Milestone III OCT 2003 OCT 2003 JUL 2004 APR 2004 RAA /F-16 DEC 2003 DEC 2003 DEC 2004 DEC 2004 IOC/F/A-18 E/F JUN 2009 N/A N/A N/A...Engineering and Manufacturing Development PDRR - Program Definition and Risk Reduction RAA - Required Assets Available JASSM-ER Milestones SAR Baseline Prod

Enhanced Polar System (EPS)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

Aug 2014 Aug 2014 Feb 2015 Jul 2014 DT&E Completion for Single String May 2017 May 2017 Nov 2017 May 2017 RAA Jun 2018 Jun 2018 Jun 2019 Jun 2018 Change...as defined by Section 12.0 of the EPS CDD dated September 15, 2011 in support of IOC. RAA is the date two hosted payloads, T&C-T, CAPS, and the Gateway...system with the three NMTs are available for operational use per Section 12.3 of the EPS CDD dated September 15, 2011, in support of FOC. The RAA

The use of Aotus Trivirgatus and Macaca Mulatta as Tools for Studies on Prevention and Therapy of Infections with Plasmodium Falciparum and Plasmodium Vivax

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-08-13

INFECTIONS WITH PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM AND PLASMODIUM VIVAX (U) FINAL PROGRESS REPORT ( PROJECT 2284-XXIX) For the Period I May 1975 to 30 April...IT» IOC mit settiM I’jtf Section ^ I» ’■■■■• BisTtmunM/MWUiiun cooa DiJÜ iWBU. UK/» FINAL PROGRESS REPORT ( PROJECT 2284-XXIX) S...quinolinemethanols pyridinemethanols I ’As in previous years, the activities of this Project were focused on development of: (a) agents fully effective

Preliminary Retrospective Analysis of Daily Tomotherapy Output Constancy Checks Using Statistical Process Control.

PubMed

Mezzenga, Emilio; D'Errico, Vincenzo; Sarnelli, Anna; Strigari, Lidia; Menghi, Enrico; Marcocci, Francesco; Bianchini, David; Benassi, Marcello

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the results from a Helical TomoTherapy Hi-Art treatment system relating to quality controls based on daily static and dynamic output checks using statistical process control methods. Individual value X-charts, exponentially weighted moving average charts, and process capability and acceptability indices were used to monitor the treatment system performance. Daily output values measured from January 2014 to January 2015 were considered. The results obtained showed that, although the process was in control, there was an out-of-control situation in the principal maintenance intervention for the treatment system. In particular, process capability indices showed a decreasing percentage of points in control which was, however, acceptable according to AAPM TG148 guidelines. Our findings underline the importance of restricting the acceptable range of daily output checks and suggest a future line of investigation for a detailed process control of daily output checks for the Helical TomoTherapy Hi-Art treatment system.

A distributed, graphical user interface based, computer control system for atomic physics experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keshet, Aviv; Ketterle, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Atomic physics experiments often require a complex sequence of precisely timed computer controlled events. This paper describes a distributed graphical user interface-based control system designed with such experiments in mind, which makes use of off-the-shelf output hardware from National Instruments. The software makes use of a client-server separation between a user interface for sequence design and a set of output hardware servers. Output hardware servers are designed to use standard National Instruments output cards, but the client-server nature should allow this to be extended to other output hardware. Output sequences running on multiple servers and output cards can be synchronized using a shared clock. By using a field programmable gate array-generated variable frequency clock, redundant buffers can be dramatically shortened, and a time resolution of 100 ns achieved over effectively arbitrary sequence lengths.

A distributed, graphical user interface based, computer control system for atomic physics experiments.

PubMed

Keshet, Aviv; Ketterle, Wolfgang

2013-01-01

Atomic physics experiments often require a complex sequence of precisely timed computer controlled events. This paper describes a distributed graphical user interface-based control system designed with such experiments in mind, which makes use of off-the-shelf output hardware from National Instruments. The software makes use of a client-server separation between a user interface for sequence design and a set of output hardware servers. Output hardware servers are designed to use standard National Instruments output cards, but the client-server nature should allow this to be extended to other output hardware. Output sequences running on multiple servers and output cards can be synchronized using a shared clock. By using a field programmable gate array-generated variable frequency clock, redundant buffers can be dramatically shortened, and a time resolution of 100 ns achieved over effectively arbitrary sequence lengths.

Self-tuning multivariable pole placement control of a multizone crystal growth furnace

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Batur, C.; Sharpless, R. B.; Duval, W. M. B.; Rosenthal, B. N.

1992-01-01

This paper presents the design and implementation of a multivariable self-tuning temperature controller for the control of lead bromide crystal growth. The crystal grows inside a multizone transparent furnace. There are eight interacting heating zones shaping the axial temperature distribution inside the furnace. A multi-input, multi-output furnace model is identified on-line by a recursive least squares estimation algorithm. A multivariable pole placement controller based on this model is derived and implemented. Comparison between single-input, single-output and multi-input, multi-output self-tuning controllers demonstrates that the zone-to-zone interactions can be minimized better by a multi-input, multi-output controller design. This directly affects the quality of crystal grown.

A Single-Phase Embedded Z-Source DC-AC Inverter

PubMed Central

Kim, Se-Jin; Lim, Young-Cheol

2014-01-01

In the conventional DC-AC inverter consisting of two DC-DC converters with unipolar output capacitors, the output capacitor voltages of the DC-DC converters must be higher than the DC input voltage. To overcome this weakness, this paper proposes a single-phase DC-AC inverter consisting of two embedded Z-source converters with bipolar output capacitors. The proposed inverter is composed of two embedded Z-source converters with a common DC source and output AC load. Though the output capacitor voltages of the converters are relatively low compared to those of a conventional inverter, an equivalent level of AC output voltages can be obtained. Moreover, by controlling the output capacitor voltages asymmetrically, the AC output voltage of the proposed inverter can be higher than the DC input voltage. To verify the validity of the proposed inverter, experiments were performed with a DC source voltage of 38 V. By controlling the output capacitor voltages of the converters symmetrically or asymmetrically, the proposed inverter can produce sinusoidal AC output voltages. The experiments show that efficiencies of up to 95% and 97% can be achieved with the proposed inverter using symmetric and asymmetric control, respectively. PMID:25133241

A single-phase embedded Z-source DC-AC inverter.

PubMed

Kim, Se-Jin; Lim, Young-Cheol

2014-01-01

In the conventional DC-AC inverter consisting of two DC-DC converters with unipolar output capacitors, the output capacitor voltages of the DC-DC converters must be higher than the DC input voltage. To overcome this weakness, this paper proposes a single-phase DC-AC inverter consisting of two embedded Z-source converters with bipolar output capacitors. The proposed inverter is composed of two embedded Z-source converters with a common DC source and output AC load. Though the output capacitor voltages of the converters are relatively low compared to those of a conventional inverter, an equivalent level of AC output voltages can be obtained. Moreover, by controlling the output capacitor voltages asymmetrically, the AC output voltage of the proposed inverter can be higher than the DC input voltage. To verify the validity of the proposed inverter, experiments were performed with a DC source voltage of 38 V. By controlling the output capacitor voltages of the converters symmetrically or asymmetrically, the proposed inverter can produce sinusoidal AC output voltages. The experiments show that efficiencies of up to 95% and 97% can be achieved with the proposed inverter using symmetric and asymmetric control, respectively.

Input-output analysis and the hospital budgeting process.

PubMed Central

Cleverly, W O

1975-01-01

Two hospitals budget systems, a conventional budget and an input-output budget, are compared to determine how they affect management decisions in pricing, output, planning, and cost control. Analysis of data from a 210-bed not-for-profit hospital indicates that adoption of the input-output budget could cause substantial changes in posted hospital rates in individual departments but probably would have no impact on hospital output determination. The input-output approach promises to be a more accurate system for cost control and planning because, unlike the conventional approach, it generates objective signals for investigating variances of expenses from budgeted levels. PMID:1205865

Optimal inverse functions created via population-based optimization.

PubMed

Jennings, Alan L; Ordóñez, Raúl

2014-06-01

Finding optimal inputs for a multiple-input, single-output system is taxing for a system operator. Population-based optimization is used to create sets of functions that produce a locally optimal input based on a desired output. An operator or higher level planner could use one of the functions in real time. For the optimization, each agent in the population uses the cost and output gradients to take steps lowering the cost while maintaining their current output. When an agent reaches an optimal input for its current output, additional agents are generated in the output gradient directions. The new agents then settle to the local optima for the new output values. The set of associated optimal points forms an inverse function, via spline interpolation, from a desired output to an optimal input. In this manner, multiple locally optimal functions can be created. These functions are naturally clustered in input and output spaces allowing for a continuous inverse function. The operator selects the best cluster over the anticipated range of desired outputs and adjusts the set point (desired output) while maintaining optimality. This reduces the demand from controlling multiple inputs, to controlling a single set point with no loss in performance. Results are demonstrated on a sample set of functions and on a robot control problem.

Robust non-fragile finite-frequency H∞ static output-feedback control for active suspension systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Gang; Chen, Changzheng; Yu, Shenbo

2017-07-01

This paper deals with the problem of non-fragile H∞ static output-feedback control of vehicle active suspension systems with finite-frequency constraint. The control objective is to improve ride comfort within the given frequency range and ensure the hard constraints in the time-domain. Moreover, in order to enhance the robustness of the controller, the control gain perturbation is also considered in controller synthesis. Firstly, a new non-fragile H∞ finite-frequency control condition is established by using generalized Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov (GKYP) lemma. Secondly, the static output-feedback control gain is directly derived by using a non-iteration algorithm. Different from the existing iteration LMI results, the static output-feedback design is simple and less conservative. Finally, the proposed control algorithm is applied to a quarter-car active suspension model with actuator dynamics, numerical results are made to show the effectiveness and merits of the proposed method.

An improved output feedback control of flexible large space structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, Y. H.; Lin, J. G.

1980-01-01

A special output feedback control design technique for flexible large space structures is proposed. It is shown that the technique will increase both the damping and frequency of selected modes for more effective control. It is also able to effect integrated control of elastic and rigid-body modes and, in particular, closed-loop system stability and robustness to modal truncation and parameter variation. The technique is seen as marking an improvement over previous work concerning large space structures output feedback control.

Flyback CCM inverter for AC module applications: iterative learning control and convergence analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Sung-Ho; Kim, Minsung

2017-12-01

This paper presents an iterative learning controller (ILC) for an interleaved flyback inverter operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM). The flyback CCM inverter features small output ripple current, high efficiency, and low cost, and hence it is well suited for photovoltaic power applications. However, it exhibits the non-minimum phase behaviour, because its transfer function from control duty to output current has the right-half-plane (RHP) zero. Moreover, the flyback CCM inverter suffers from the time-varying grid voltage disturbance. Thus, conventional control scheme results in inaccurate output tracking. To overcome these problems, the ILC is first developed and applied to the flyback inverter operating in CCM. The ILC makes use of both predictive and current learning terms which help the system output to converge to the reference trajectory. We take into account the nonlinear averaged model and use it to construct the proposed controller. It is proven that the system output globally converges to the reference trajectory in the absence of state disturbances, output noises, or initial state errors. Numerical simulations are performed to validate the proposed control scheme, and experiments using 400-W AC module prototype are carried out to demonstrate its practical feasibility.

Heat engine generator control system

DOEpatents

Rajashekara, K.; Gorti, B.V.; McMullen, S.R.; Raibert, R.J.

1998-05-12

An electrical power generation system includes a heat engine having an output member operatively coupled to the rotor of a dynamoelectric machine. System output power is controlled by varying an electrical parameter of the dynamoelectric machine. A power request signal is related to an engine speed and the electrical parameter is varied in accordance with a speed control loop. Initially, the sense of change in the electrical parameter in response to a change in the power request signal is opposite that required to effectuate a steady state output power consistent with the power request signal. Thereafter, the electrical parameter is varied to converge the output member speed to the speed known to be associated with the desired electrical output power. 8 figs.

Heat engine generator control system

DOEpatents

Rajashekara, Kaushik; Gorti, Bhanuprasad Venkata; McMullen, Steven Robert; Raibert, Robert Joseph

1998-01-01

An electrical power generation system includes a heat engine having an output member operatively coupled to the rotor of a dynamoelectric machine. System output power is controlled by varying an electrical parameter of the dynamoelectric machine. A power request signal is related to an engine speed and the electrical parameter is varied in accordance with a speed control loop. Initially, the sense of change in the electrical parameter in response to a change in the power request signal is opposite that required to effectuate a steady state output power consistent with the power request signal. Thereafter, the electrical parameter is varied to converge the output member speed to the speed known to be associated with the desired electrical output power.

A variable-gain output feedback control design methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halyo, Nesim; Moerder, Daniel D.; Broussard, John R.; Taylor, Deborah B.

1989-01-01

A digital control system design technique is developed in which the control system gain matrix varies with the plant operating point parameters. The design technique is obtained by formulating the problem as an optimal stochastic output feedback control law with variable gains. This approach provides a control theory framework within which the operating range of a control law can be significantly extended. Furthermore, the approach avoids the major shortcomings of the conventional gain-scheduling techniques. The optimal variable gain output feedback control problem is solved by embedding the Multi-Configuration Control (MCC) problem, previously solved at ICS. An algorithm to compute the optimal variable gain output feedback control gain matrices is developed. The algorithm is a modified version of the MCC algorithm improved so as to handle the large dimensionality which arises particularly in variable-gain control problems. The design methodology developed is applied to a reconfigurable aircraft control problem. A variable-gain output feedback control problem was formulated to design a flight control law for an AFTI F-16 aircraft which can automatically reconfigure its control strategy to accommodate failures in the horizontal tail control surface. Simulations of the closed-loop reconfigurable system show that the approach produces a control design which can accommodate such failures with relative ease. The technique can be applied to many other problems including sensor failure accommodation, mode switching control laws and super agility.

Fuzzy logic controller optimization

DOEpatents

Sepe, Jr., Raymond B; Miller, John Michael

2004-03-23

A method is provided for optimizing a rotating induction machine system fuzzy logic controller. The fuzzy logic controller has at least one input and at least one output. Each input accepts a machine system operating parameter. Each output produces at least one machine system control parameter. The fuzzy logic controller generates each output based on at least one input and on fuzzy logic decision parameters. Optimization begins by obtaining a set of data relating each control parameter to at least one operating parameter for each machine operating region. A model is constructed for each machine operating region based on the machine operating region data obtained. The fuzzy logic controller is simulated with at least one created model in a feedback loop from a fuzzy logic output to a fuzzy logic input. Fuzzy logic decision parameters are optimized based on the simulation.

The prevalence of doping in Flanders in comparison to the prevalence of doping in international sports.

PubMed

Van Eenoo, P; Delbeke, F T

2003-11-01

For many years, doping has been considered a major problem in sports. Recent doping cases have shocked the general public and press reports have further generated the idea that a great number of athletes are doped. In this study statistical data provided by the International Olympic Committee (1996 - 2000) to IOC accredited laboratories and results from the Flemish anti-doping program (1993 - 2000) are discussed. During these periods, the average percentage positive samples in the IOC accredited laboratories and in Flanders were 1.8 % and 4.1 %, respectively. The percentage of positive samples was significantly higher for in-competition than for out-of-competition samples. During the period 1993 - 2000, doping was detected in all sports in Flanders, for which a representative number of samples (n > 50) was tested except mini-soccer, where no positive doping samples were found. The use of doping among male athletes is significantly higher than for female athletes. Bodybuilding and power lifting had the highest incidence of positive cases in Flanders. The distribution of detected drugs among the different groups of prohibited substances shows a significant increase in the number of samples containing cannabis over the last years. The occurrence of cannabis in all sports and the high frequency of detection in Flanders, indicate that cannabis is predominantly misused as a "social" drug rather than for doping purposes. In Flanders, multiple prohibited substances were detected in 41 % of all positive cases. At least 27.6 % out of those were due to co-administration of drugs.

Morphometric analysis of the infraorbital foramen, canal and groove using cone beam CT: considerations for creating artificial organs.

PubMed

Orhan, Kaan; Misirli, Melis; Aksoy, Secil; Seki, Umut; Hincal, Evren; Ormeci, Tugrul; Arslan, Ahmet

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the anatomy and variations of the infraorbital foramen and its surroundings via morphometric measurements using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans derived from a 3D volumetric rendering program. 354 sides of CBCT scans from 177 patients were examined in this study. DICOM data from these images were exported to Maxilim® software in order to generate 3D surface models. The morphometric measurements were done for infraorbital foramen (IOF), infraorbital groove (IOG) and infraorbital canal (IOC). All images were evaluated by 1 radiologist. To assess intra-observer reliability, the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test was used. Differences between sex, side, age and measurements were evaluated using chi-square and paired t-test and measurements were evaluated using 1-way ANOVA tests. Differences were considered significant when p<0.05. The most common shape was oval for IOF and parallel for IOC without any accessory foramen. The results showed that females have smaller dimensions for the measurements between the two foramen rotundum (FR), FR-IOF, sella-FR, center of the IOF (cIOF)-nasion (N), cIOF-NB (nasion-B) (p>0.05). No significant difference was found according to age groups (p>0.05). These results provide detailed knowledge of the anatomical characteristics in this particular area. CBCT imaging with lower radiation dose and thin slices can be a powerful tool for anesthesia procedures like infra orbital nerve blocks, for surgical approaches like osteotomies and neurectomies and also for generating artificial prostheses.

Prediction of the sorption capacities and affinities of organic chemicals by XAD-7.

PubMed

Yang, Kun; Qi, Long; Wei, Wei; Wu, Wenhao; Lin, Daohui

2016-01-01

Macro-porous resins are widely used as adsorbents for the treatment of organic contaminants in wastewater and for the pre-concentration of organic solutes from water. However, the sorption mechanisms for organic contaminants on such adsorbents have not been systematically investigated so far. Therefore, in this study, the sorption capacities and affinities of 24 organic chemicals by XAD-7 were investigated and the experimentally obtained sorption isotherms were fitted to the Dubinin-Ashtakhov model. Linear positive correlations were observed between the sorption capacities and the solubilities (SW) of the chemicals in water or octanol and between the sorption affinities and the solvatochromic parameters of the chemicals, indicating that the sorption of various organic compounds by XAD-7 occurred by non-linear partitioning into XAD-7, rather than by adsorption on XAD-7 surfaces. Both specific interactions (i.e., hydrogen-bonding interactions) as well as nonspecific interactions were considered to be responsible for the non-linear partitioning. The correlation equations obtained in this study allow the prediction of non-linear partitioning using well-known chemical parameters, namely SW, octanol-water partition coefficients (KOW), and the hydrogen-bonding donor parameter (αm). The effect of pH on the sorption of ionizable organic compounds (IOCs) could also be predicted by combining the correlation equations with additional equations developed from the estimation of IOC dissociation rates. The prediction equations developed in this study and the proposed non-linear partition mechanism shed new light on the selective removal and pre-concentration of organic solutes from water and on the regeneration of exhausted XAD-7 using solvent extraction.

Managing biomedical image metadata for search and retrieval of similar images.

PubMed

Korenblum, Daniel; Rubin, Daniel; Napel, Sandy; Rodriguez, Cesar; Beaulieu, Chris

2011-08-01

Radiology images are generally disconnected from the metadata describing their contents, such as imaging observations ("semantic" metadata), which are usually described in text reports that are not directly linked to the images. We developed a system, the Biomedical Image Metadata Manager (BIMM) to (1) address the problem of managing biomedical image metadata and (2) facilitate the retrieval of similar images using semantic feature metadata. Our approach allows radiologists, researchers, and students to take advantage of the vast and growing repositories of medical image data by explicitly linking images to their associated metadata in a relational database that is globally accessible through a Web application. BIMM receives input in the form of standard-based metadata files using Web service and parses and stores the metadata in a relational database allowing efficient data query and maintenance capabilities. Upon querying BIMM for images, 2D regions of interest (ROIs) stored as metadata are automatically rendered onto preview images included in search results. The system's "match observations" function retrieves images with similar ROIs based on specific semantic features describing imaging observation characteristics (IOCs). We demonstrate that the system, using IOCs alone, can accurately retrieve images with diagnoses matching the query images, and we evaluate its performance on a set of annotated liver lesion images. BIMM has several potential applications, e.g., computer-aided detection and diagnosis, content-based image retrieval, automating medical analysis protocols, and gathering population statistics like disease prevalences. The system provides a framework for decision support systems, potentially improving their diagnostic accuracy and selection of appropriate therapies.

New classification system for indications for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography predicts diagnoses and adverse events.

PubMed

Yuen, Nicholas; O'Shaughnessy, Pauline; Thomson, Andrew

2017-12-01

Indications for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) have received little attention, especially in scientific or objective terms. To review the prevailing ERCP indications in the literature, and to propose and evaluate a new ERCP indication system, which relies on more objective pre-procedure parameters. An analysis was conducted on 1758 consecutive ERCP procedures, in which contemporaneous use was made of an a-priori indication system. Indications were based on the objective pre-procedure parameters and divided into primary [cholangitis, clinical evidence of biliary leak, acute (biliary) pancreatitis, abnormal intraoperative cholangiogram (IOC), or change/removal of stent for benign/malignant disease] and secondary [combination of two or three of: pain attributable to biliary disease ('P'), imaging evidence of biliary disease ('I'), and abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) ('L')]. A secondary indication was only used if a primary indication was not present. The relationship between this newly developed classification system and ERCP findings and adverse events was examined. The indications of cholangitis and positive IOC were predictive of choledocholithiasis at ERCP (101/154 and 74/141 procedures, respectively). With respect to secondary indications, only if all three of 'P', 'I', and 'L' were present there was a statistically significant association with choledocholithiasis (χ 2 (1) = 35.3, p < .001). Adverse events were associated with an unusual indication leading to greater risk of unplanned hospitalization (χ 2 (1) = 17.0, p < .001). An a-priori-based indication system for ERCP, which relies on pre-ERCP objective parameters, provides a more useful and scientific classification system than is available currently.

Development of a resilience scale for Thai substance-dependent women: A mixed methods approach.

PubMed

Sakunpong, Nanchatsan; Choochom, Oraphin; Taephant, Nattasuda

2016-08-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a resilience scale based on the experiences of substance-dependent women in Thailand and evaluate its validity and reliability. A sequential exploratory mixed methods design was employed as the main methodology to develop the resilience scale according to the results from qualitative data by analyzing focus group discussions of 13 participants. Then, the scale was administered to 252 substance-dependent women from four substance-treatment centers. The psychometric properties were explored with an index of item objective congruence (IOC), Pearson correlation, second-order confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha coefficient to estimate the quantitative data. The qualitative results showed that resilience is defined by three themes: individual, family and community factors, consisted of 13 different categories. The quantitative results also revealed that all 71 items in the resilience scale passed the IOC criteria, convergence and construct validity. The goodness-of-fit indices demonstrated that the resilience model was consistent with the empirical data. (Chi-square=74.28, df=59, p-value=0.08, RMSEA=0.03, SRMR=0.04, NNFI=0.99, CFI=0.99, GFI=0.96). The internal consistency, assessed by a Cronbach's alpha score of 0.92, can be interpreted as demonstrating high reliability. Furthermore, the structure of the resilience scale was confirmed by the available resilience literature. This study can help clinicians gain a more comprehensive understanding regarding the complex process of resilience among substance-dependent women and aid them in providing these women with the appropriate interventions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Low-to-Medium Power Single Chip Digital Controlled DC-DC Regulator for Point-of-Load Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adell, Philippe C. (Inventor); Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Inventor); Vermeire, Bert (Inventor); Liu, Tao (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A DC-DC converter for generating a DC output voltage includes: a digitally controlled pulse width modulator (DPWM) for controlling a switching power stage to supply a varying voltage to an inductor; and a digital voltage feedback circuit for controlling the DPWM in accordance with a feedback voltage corresponding to the DC output voltage, the digital voltage feedback circuit including: a first voltage controlled oscillator for converting the feedback voltage into a first frequency signal and to supply the first frequency signal to a first frequency discriminator; a second voltage controlled oscillator for converting a reference voltage into a second frequency signal and to supply the second frequency signal to a second frequency discriminator; a digital comparator for comparing digital outputs of the first and second frequency discriminators and for outputting a digital feedback signal; and a controller for controlling the DPWM in accordance with the digital feedback signal.

Adaptive output-feedback control for switched stochastic uncertain nonlinear systems with time-varying delay.

PubMed

Song, Zhibao; Zhai, Junyong

2018-04-01

This paper addresses the problem of adaptive output-feedback control for a class of switched stochastic time-delay nonlinear systems with uncertain output function, where both the control coefficients and time-varying delay are unknown. The drift and diffusion terms are subject to unknown homogeneous growth condition. By virtue of adding a power integrator technique, an adaptive output-feedback controller is designed to render that the closed-loop system is bounded in probability, and the state of switched stochastic nonlinear system can be globally regulated to the origin almost surely. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed control method. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cascaded resonant bridge converters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stuart, Thomas A. (Inventor)

1989-01-01

A converter for converting a low voltage direct current power source to a higher voltage, high frequency alternating current output for use in an electrical system where it is desired to use low weight cables and other circuit elements. The converter has a first stage series resonant (Schwarz) converter which converts the direct current power source to an alternating current by means of switching elements that are operated by a variable frequency voltage regulator, a transformer to step up the voltage of the alternating current, and a rectifier bridge to convert the alternating current to a direct current first stage output. The converter further has a second stage series resonant (Schwarz) converter which is connected in series to the first stage converter to receive its direct current output and convert it to a second stage high frequency alternating current output by means of switching elements that are operated by a fixed frequency oscillator. The voltage of the second stage output is controlled at a relatively constant value by controlling the first stage output voltage, which is accomplished by controlling the frequency of the first stage variable frequency voltage controller in response to second stage voltage. Fault tolerance in the event of a load short circuit is provided by making the operation of the first stage variable frequency voltage controller responsive to first and second stage current limiting devices. The second stage output is connected to a rectifier bridge whose output is connected to the input of the second stage to provide good regulation of output voltage wave form at low system loads.

Combustion Control System Design of Diesel Engine via ASPR based Output Feedback Control Strategy with a PFC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mizumoto, Ikuro; Tsunematsu, Junpei; Fujii, Seiya

2016-09-01

In this paper, a design method of an output feedback control system with a simple feedforward input for a combustion model of diesel engine will be proposed based on the almost strictly positive real-ness (ASPR-ness) of the controlled system for a combustion control of diesel engines. A parallel feedforward compensator (PFC) design scheme which renders the resulting augmented controlled system ASPR will also be proposed in order to design a stable output feedback control system for the considered combustion model. The effectiveness of our proposed method will be confirmed through numerical simulations.

Multiple high voltage output DC-to-DC power converter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cronin, Donald L. (Inventor); Farber, Bertrand F. (Inventor); Gehm, Hartmut K. (Inventor); Goldin, Daniel S. (Inventor)

1977-01-01

Disclosed is a multiple output DC-to-DC converter. The DC input power is filtered and passed through a chopper preregulator. The chopper output is then passed through a current source inverter controlled by a squarewave generator. The resultant AC is passed through the primary winding of a transformer, with high voltages induced in a plurality of secondary windings. The high voltage secondary outputs are each solid-state rectified for passage to individual output loads. Multiple feedback loops control the operation of the chopper preregulator, one being responsive to the current through the primary winding and another responsive to the DC voltage level at a selected output.

Evaluation of the performance of a passive-active vibration isolation system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, L. L.; Hansen, C. H.; Doolan, C.

2015-01-01

The behavior of a feedforward active isolation system subjected to actuator output constraints is investigated. Distributed parameter models are developed to analyze the system response, and to produce a transfer matrix for the design of an integrated passive-active isolation system. Cost functions considered here comprise a combination of the vibration transmission energy and the sum of the squared control forces. The example system considered is a rigid body connected to a simply supported plate via two isolation mounts. The overall isolation performance is evaluated by numerical simulation. The results show that the control strategies which rely on unconstrained actuator outputs may give substantial power transmission reductions over a wide frequency range, but also require large control force amplitudes to control excited vibration modes of the system. Expected power transmission reductions for modified control strategies that incorporate constrained actuator outputs are considerably less than typical reductions with unconstrained actuator outputs. The active system with constrained control force outputs is shown to be more effective at the resonance frequencies of the supporting plate. However, in the frequency range in which rigid body modes are present, the control strategies employed using constrained actuator outputs can only achieve 5-10 dB power transmission reduction, while at off-resonance frequencies, little or no power transmission reduction can be obtained with realistic control forces. Analysis of the wave effects in the passive mounts is also presented.

L1 Adaptive Control Augmentation System with Application to the X-29 Lateral/Directional Dynamics: A Multi-Input Multi-Output Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Griffin, Brian Joseph; Burken, John J.; Xargay, Enric

2010-01-01

This paper presents an L(sub 1) adaptive control augmentation system design for multi-input multi-output nonlinear systems in the presence of unmatched uncertainties which may exhibit significant cross-coupling effects. A piecewise continuous adaptive law is adopted and extended for applicability to multi-input multi-output systems that explicitly compensates for dynamic cross-coupling. In addition, explicit use of high-fidelity actuator models are added to the L1 architecture to reduce uncertainties in the system. The L(sub 1) multi-input multi-output adaptive control architecture is applied to the X-29 lateral/directional dynamics and results are evaluated against a similar single-input single-output design approach.

Modeling and vibration control of the flapping-wing robotic aircraft with output constraint

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Wei; Mu, Xinxing; Chen, Yunan; He, Xiuyu; Yu, Yao

2018-06-01

In this paper, we propose the boundary control for undesired vibrations suppression with output constraint of the flapping-wing robotic aircraft (FWRA). We also present the dynamics of the flexible wing of FWRA with governing equations and boundary conditions, which are partial differential equations (PDEs) and ordinary differential equations (ODEs), respectively. An energy-based barrier Lyapunov function is introduced to analyze the system stability and prevent violation of output constraint. With the effect of the proposed boundary controller, distributed states of the system remain in the constrained spaces. Then the IBLF-based boundary controls are proposed to assess the stability of the FWRA in the presence of output constraint.

Towards the understanding of biogeochemical processes involved in the release of carbonyl sulfide (COS) from soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Behrendt, Thomas; Catao, Elisa; Bunk, Rüdiger; Yi, Zhigang; Greule, Markus; Keppler, Frank; Kesselmeier, Jürgen; Trumbore, Susan

2017-04-01

Carbonyl sulfide (COS) is present in the atmosphere in low mixing ratio ( 500ppt). It is relevant in climate change through the effect in aerosol formation. Soils can act as source of COS, e.g. by microbial degradation of thiocyanate from plant material. On the other side it is known that COS can be consumed via various enzymatic pathways. Assuming that biogenic processes dominate over chemical reactions we extracted nucleic acids and performed amplicon sequencing for bacteria (16S rRNA) and fungi (ITS region) from a mid-latitude agricultural maize soil which was previously incubated under ambient COS and COS fumigation ( 1000ppt). The mixing ratios of COS have been measured online from soil samples in a dynamic chamber system under laboratory conditions by an integrated cavity output spectroscopy (IOCS) analyzer (Los Gatos Research Inc., USA). Additionally stable carbon isotope values (δ13C values) of COS were measured using a pre-concentration method and stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). Under low COS mixing ratio ( 50ppt) δ13C +4.7 ‰ for spruce forest ( 23°C), and -24.4‰ for mid-latitude cornfield ( 22°C), respectively. Linking gas release rates of (COS, CO2, CO, NO) to isotopic signatures of COS and molecular results might allow us to indicate bacterial s-compound degradation related to the higher activity of β-Proteobacteria and of the family Acetobacteraceae from the α-Proteobacteria phylum, potentially involved with the hydrolysis of thiocyanate in the soil releasing COS. Furthermore, our study reports the first COS data for rainforest and desert soils which are in the order of 0.5 pmol gdw-1 h-1 and 2 pmol gdw-1 h-1, respectively.

X-ray source assembly having enhanced output stability, and fluid stream analysis applications thereof

DOEpatents

Radley, Ian [Glenmont, NY; Bievenue, Thomas J [Delmar, NY; Burdett, John H [Charlton, NY; Gallagher, Brian W [Guilderland, NY; Shakshober, Stuart M [Hudson, NY; Chen, Zewu [Schenectady, NY; Moore, Michael D [Alplaus, NY

2008-06-08

An x-ray source assembly and method of operation are provided having enhanced output stability. The assembly includes an anode having a source spot upon which electrons impinge and a control system for controlling position of the anode source spot relative to an output structure. The control system can maintain the anode source spot location relative to the output structure notwithstanding a change in one or more operating conditions of the x-ray source assembly. One aspect of the disclosed invention is most amenable to the analysis of sulfur in petroleum-based fuels.

Structured output-feedback controller synthesis with design specifications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Yuqing; Duan, Zhisheng

2017-03-01

This paper considers the problem of structured output-feedback controller synthesis with finite frequency specifications. Based on the orthogonal space information of input matrix, an improved parameter-dependent Lyapunov function method is first proposed. Then, a two-stage construction method is designed, which depends on an initial centralised controller. Corresponding design conditions for three types of output-feedback controllers are presented in terms of unified representations. Moreover, heuristic algorithms are provided to explore the desirable controllers. Finally, the effectiveness of these proposed methods is illustrated via some practical examples.

Multichannel optical sensing device

DOEpatents

Selkowitz, S.E.

1985-08-16

A multichannel optical sensing device is disclosed, for measuring the outdoor sky luminance or illuminance or the luminance or illuminance distribution in a room, comprising a plurality of light receptors, an optical shutter matrix including a plurality of liquid crystal optical shutter elements operable by electrical control signals between light transmitting and light stopping conditions, fiber optical elements connected between the receptors and the shutter elements, a microprocessor based programmable control unit for selectively supplying control signals to the optical shutter elements in a programmable sequence, a photodetector including an optical integrating spherical chamber having an input port for receiving the light from the shutter matrix and at least one detector element in the spherical chamber for producing output signals corresponding to the light, and output units for utilizing the output signals including a storage unit having a control connection to the microprocessor based programmable control unit for storing the output signals under the sequence control of the programmable control unit.

Multichannel optical sensing device

DOEpatents

Selkowitz, Stephen E.

1990-01-01

A multichannel optical sensing device is disclosed, for measuring the outr sky luminance or illuminance or the luminance or illuminance distribution in a room, comprising a plurality of light receptors, an optical shutter matrix including a plurality of liquid crystal optical shutter elements operable by electrical control signals between light transmitting and light stopping conditions, fiber optic elements connected between the receptors and the shutter elements, a microprocessor based programmable control unit for selectively supplying control signals to the optical shutter elements in a programmable sequence, a photodetector including an optical integrating spherical chamber having an input port for receiving the light from the shutter matrix and at least one detector element in the spherical chamber for producing output signals corresponding to the light, and output units for utilizing the output signals including a storage unit having a control connection to the microprocessor based programmable control unit for storing the output signals under the sequence control of the programmable control unit.

Individual differences in episodic memory abilities predict successful prospective memory output monitoring.

PubMed

Hunter Ball, B; Pitães, Margarida; Brewer, Gene A

2018-02-07

Output monitoring refers to memory for one's previously completed actions. In the context of prospective memory (PM) (e.g., remembering to take medication), failures of output monitoring can result in repetitions and omissions of planned actions (e.g., over- or under-medication). To be successful in output monitoring paradigms, participants must flexibly control attention to detect PM cues as well as engage controlled retrieval of previous actions whenever a particular cue is encountered. The current study examined individual differences in output monitoring abilities in a group of younger adults differing in attention control (AC) and episodic memory (EM) abilities. The results showed that AC ability uniquely predicted successful cue detection on the first presentation, whereas EM ability uniquely predicted successful output monitoring on the second presentation. The current study highlights the importance of examining external correlates of PM abilities and contributes to the growing body of research on individual differences in PM.

Output Feedback Distributed Containment Control for High-Order Nonlinear Multiagent Systems.

PubMed

Li, Yafeng; Hua, Changchun; Wu, Shuangshuang; Guan, Xinping

2017-01-31

In this paper, we study the problem of output feedback distributed containment control for a class of high-order nonlinear multiagent systems under a fixed undirected graph and a fixed directed graph, respectively. Only the output signals of the systems can be measured. The novel reduced order dynamic gain observer is constructed to estimate the unmeasured state variables of the system with the less conservative condition on nonlinear terms than traditional Lipschitz one. Via the backstepping method, output feedback distributed nonlinear controllers for the followers are designed. By means of the novel first virtual controllers, we separate the estimated state variables of different agents from each other. Consequently, the designed controllers show independence on the estimated state variables of neighbors except outputs information, and the dynamics of each agent can be greatly different, which make the design method have a wider class of applications. Finally, a numerical simulation is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Energy storage connection system

DOEpatents

Benedict, Eric L.; Borland, Nicholas P.; Dale, Magdelena; Freeman, Belvin; Kite, Kim A.; Petter, Jeffrey K.; Taylor, Brendan F.

2012-07-03

A power system for connecting a variable voltage power source, such as a power controller, with a plurality of energy storage devices, at least two of which have a different initial voltage than the output voltage of the variable voltage power source. The power system includes a controller that increases the output voltage of the variable voltage power source. When such output voltage is substantially equal to the initial voltage of a first one of the energy storage devices, the controller sends a signal that causes a switch to connect the variable voltage power source with the first one of the energy storage devices. The controller then causes the output voltage of the variable voltage power source to continue increasing. When the output voltage is substantially equal to the initial voltage of a second one of the energy storage devices, the controller sends a signal that causes a switch to connect the variable voltage power source with the second one of the energy storage devices.

Recursive Deadbeat Controller Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juang, Jer-Nan; Phan, Minh Q.

1997-01-01

This paper presents a recursive algorithm for a deadbeat predictive controller design. The method combines together the concepts of system identification and deadbeat controller designs. It starts with the multi-step output prediction equation and derives the control force in terms of past input and output time histories. The formulation thus derived satisfies simultaneously system identification and deadbeat controller design requirements. As soon as the coefficient matrices are identified satisfying the output prediction equation, no further work is required to compute the deadbeat control gain matrices. The method can be implemented recursively just as any typical recursive system identification techniques.

QFT Multi-Input, Multi-Output Design with Non-Diagonal, Non-Square Compensation Matrices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hess, R. A.; Henderson, D. K.

1996-01-01

A technique for obtaining a non-diagonal compensator for the control of a multi-input, multi-output plant is presented. The technique, which uses Quantitative Feedback Theory, provides guaranteed stability and performance robustness in the presence of parametric uncertainty. An example is given involving the lateral-directional control of an uncertain model of a high-performance fighter aircraft in which redundant control effectors are in evidence, i.e. more control effectors than output variables are used.

An Active Z Gravity Compensation System

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-07-01

is necessary to convert the modified digital controller back into continuous time, assuming a zero -order hold for output, and using the Padd ...most likely higher frequency pole- zero pairs introduced by the motor and torque servo, these are generally non-oscillatory, and small in amplitude...on the output of the PI control. The detection scheme is the following: if the output of the fuzzy controller has remained zero (static system) for

Advanced insulated gate bipolar transistor gate drive

DOEpatents

Short, James Evans [Monongahela, PA; West, Shawn Michael [West Mifflin, PA; Fabean, Robert J [Donora, PA

2009-08-04

A gate drive for an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) includes a control and protection module coupled to a collector terminal of the IGBT, an optical communications module coupled to the control and protection module, a power supply module coupled to the control and protection module and an output power stage module with inputs coupled to the power supply module and the control and protection module, and outputs coupled to a gate terminal and an emitter terminal of the IGBT. The optical communications module is configured to send control signals to the control and protection module. The power supply module is configured to distribute inputted power to the control and protection module. The control and protection module outputs on/off, soft turn-off and/or soft turn-on signals to the output power stage module, which, in turn, supplies a current based on the signal(s) from the control and protection module for charging or discharging an input capacitance of the IGBT.

General-Purpose Serial Interface For Remote Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Busquets, Anthony M.; Gupton, Lawrence E.

1990-01-01

Computer controls remote television camera. General-purpose controller developed to serve as interface between host computer and pan/tilt/zoom/focus functions on series of automated video cameras. Interface port based on 8251 programmable communications-interface circuit configured for tristated outputs, and connects controller system to any host computer with RS-232 input/output (I/O) port. Accepts byte-coded data from host, compares them with prestored codes in read-only memory (ROM), and closes or opens appropriate switches. Six output ports control opening and closing of as many as 48 switches. Operator controls remote television camera by speaking commands, in system including general-purpose controller.

Gradient-based controllers for timed continuous Petri nets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lefebvre, Dimitri; Leclercq, Edouard; Druaux, Fabrice; Thomas, Philippe

2015-07-01

This paper is about control design for timed continuous Petri nets that are described as piecewise affine systems. In this context, the marking vector is considered as the state space vector, weighted marking of place subsets are defined as the model outputs and the model inputs correspond to multiplicative control actions that slow down the firing rate of some controllable transitions. Structural and functional sensitivity of the outputs with respect to the inputs are discussed in terms of Petri nets. Then, gradient-based controllers (GBC) are developed in order to adapt the control actions of the controllable transitions according to desired trajectories of the outputs.

Steady-state bumpless transfer under controller uncertainty using the state/output feedback topology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zheng, K.; Lee, A.H.; Bentsman, J.

2006-01-15

Linear quadratic (LQ) bumpless transfer design introduced recently by Turner and Walker gives a very convenient and straightforward computational procedure for the steady-state bumpless transfer operator synthesis. It is, however, found to be incapable of providing convergence of the output of the offline controller to that of the online controller in several industrial applications, producing bumps in the plant output in the wake of controller transfer. An examination of this phenomenon reveals that the applications in question are characterized by a significant mismatch, further referred to as controller uncertainty, between the dynamics of the implemented controllers and their models usedmore » in the transfer operator computation. To address this problem, while retaining the convenience of the Turner and Walker design, a novel state/output feedback bumpless transfer topology is introduced that employs the nominal state of the offline controller and, through the use of an additional controller/model mismatch compensator, also the offline controller output. A corresponding steady-state bumpless transfer design procedure along with the supporting theory is developed for a large class of systems. Due to these features, it is demonstrated to solve a long-standing problem of high-quality steady-state bumpless transfer from the industry standard low-order nonlinear multiloop PID-based controllers to the modern multiinput-multioutput (MIMO) robust controllers in the megawatt/throttle pressure control of a typical coal-fired boiler/turbine unit.« less

Environmental Assessment to Repair/Modify Drainage and Remove Headwalls on Runway 17/35 and Taxiway D

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-01

34 """· ll1d unclog ~oe dJlo:t-.e. b> cc>r!ttlinJ! £llldimb 10 pruori<k prapo:r no... The proj«l tnl) be dune in (<>Ur """"" or all at once dcpcndw,: M 1111...dad-......, yea-..__ ...... ~""’~*~""" · ....tums" ncfwtna clownward. and die ..,_ lo obo1r-.,..-"""’ • .,......,. slmilu 10 the canpaco Then "" u-.,...,. four toes on eodl !rind i>oc.. C-7

System Integration and Interface Transition Issues.

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-04-01

OC - 4- u -O m4 U V L.- I~V 0~ C 0 - i CC 0 .iOC30~i .- ~. C > u uU O! ul Wi 0) i~ LUn CL04) z w 0 CL-0r I.- ~ ~~~~ in0 6 - 2-A 0 ~ 4) 0 zEC u~5. 0...Systems Design and Documentation - An Introduction to the HIPO Method, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. (1976). [34] Peter Freeman, "Toward Improved Review of...Software Design," Proc. National Computer Conf. 44, AFIPS Press (1975) pp 329-334. [35] Peter G. Neumann, "Software Development & Proofs of Multi-Level

Earth-based observations of Faraday rotation in radio bursts from Jupiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phillips, J. A.; Ferree, Thomas C.; Wang, Joe

1989-01-01

New observations have been made of Faraday rotation in decameter-wavelength radio bursts from the planet Jupiter. Data obtained during six Io-B storms clearly indicate that an appreciable fraction of the observed Faraday rotation occurs in the Jovian magnetosphere. All of the Faraday rotation observed during a single Io-A storm can be accounted for by earth's ionosphere. Measurements of the Faraday effect in Io-B emissions indicate that the source is in Jupiter's northern magnetic hemisphere. Observations of the Faraday effect in Io-C emissions are proposed to determine its location as well.

Validity of cardiac output measurement by the thermodilution method in the presence of acute tricuspid regurgitation.

PubMed

Boerboom, L E; Kinney, T E; Olinger, G N; Hoffmann, R G

1993-10-01

Evaluation of patients with acute tricuspid insufficiency may include assessment of cardiac output by the thermodilution method. The accuracy of estimates of thermodilution-derived cardiac output in the presence of tricuspid insufficiency has been questioned. This study was designed to determine the validity of the thermodilution technique in a canine model of acute reversible tricuspid insufficiency. Cardiac output as measured by thermodilution and electromagnetic flowmeter was compared at two grades of regurgitation. The relationship between these two methods (thermodilution/electromagnetic) changed significantly from a regression slope of 1.01 +/- 0.18 (mean +/- standard deviation) during control conditions to a slope of 0.86 +/- 0.23 (p < 0.02) during severe regurgitation. No significant change was observed between control and mild regurgitation or between the initial control value and a control measurement repeated after tricuspid insufficiency was reversed at the termination of the study. This study shows that in a canine model of severe acute tricuspid regurgitation the thermodilution method underestimates cardiac output by an amount that is proportional to the level of cardiac output and to the grade of regurgitation.

Reduced-order dynamic output feedback control of uncertain discrete-time Markov jump linear systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morais, Cecília F.; Braga, Márcio F.; Oliveira, Ricardo C. L. F.; Peres, Pedro L. D.

2017-11-01

This paper deals with the problem of designing reduced-order robust dynamic output feedback controllers for discrete-time Markov jump linear systems (MJLS) with polytopic state space matrices and uncertain transition probabilities. Starting from a full order, mode-dependent and polynomially parameter-dependent dynamic output feedback controller, sufficient linear matrix inequality based conditions are provided for the existence of a robust reduced-order dynamic output feedback stabilising controller with complete, partial or none mode dependency assuring an upper bound to the ? or the ? norm of the closed-loop system. The main advantage of the proposed method when compared to the existing approaches is the fact that the dynamic controllers are exclusively expressed in terms of the decision variables of the problem. In other words, the matrices that define the controller realisation do not depend explicitly on the state space matrices associated with the modes of the MJLS. As a consequence, the method is specially suitable to handle order reduction or cluster availability constraints in the context of ? or ? dynamic output feedback control of discrete-time MJLS. Additionally, as illustrated by means of numerical examples, the proposed approach can provide less conservative results than other conditions in the literature.

Method and apparatus for loss of control inhibitor systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

A'Harrah, Ralph C. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

Active and adaptive systems and methods to prevent loss of control incidents by providing tactile feedback to a vehicle operator are disclosed. According to the present invention, an operator gives a control input to an inceptor. An inceptor sensor measures an inceptor input value of the control input. The inceptor input is used as an input to a Steady-State Inceptor Input/Effector Output Model that models the vehicle control system design. A desired effector output from the inceptor input is generated from the model. The desired effector output is compared to an actual effector output to get a distortion metric. A feedback force is generated as a function of the distortion metric. The feedback force is used as an input to a feedback force generator which generates a loss of control inhibitor system (LOCIS) force back to the inceptor. The LOCIS force is felt by the operator through the inceptor.

CONTROL AND FAULT DETECTOR CIRCUIT

DOEpatents

Winningstad, C.N.

1958-04-01

A power control and fault detectcr circuit for a radiofrequency system is described. The operation of the circuit controls the power output of a radio- frequency power supply to automatically start the flow of energizing power to the radio-frequency power supply and to gradually increase the power to a predetermined level which is below the point where destruction occurs upon the happening of a fault. If the radio-frequency power supply output fails to increase during such period, the control does not further increase the power. On the other hand, if the output of the radio-frequency power supply properly increases, then the control continues to increase the power to a maximum value. After the maximumn value of radio-frequency output has been achieved. the control is responsive to a ''fault,'' such as a short circuit in the radio-frequency system being driven, so that the flow of power is interrupted for an interval before the cycle is repeated.

Adaptive Output-Feedback Neural Control of Switched Uncertain Nonlinear Systems With Average Dwell Time.

PubMed

Long, Lijun; Zhao, Jun

2015-07-01

This paper investigates the problem of adaptive neural tracking control via output-feedback for a class of switched uncertain nonlinear systems without the measurements of the system states. The unknown control signals are approximated directly by neural networks. A novel adaptive neural control technique for the problem studied is set up by exploiting the average dwell time method and backstepping. A switched filter and different update laws are designed to reduce the conservativeness caused by adoption of a common observer and a common update law for all subsystems. The proposed controllers of subsystems guarantee that all closed-loop signals remain bounded under a class of switching signals with average dwell time, while the output tracking error converges to a small neighborhood of the origin. As an application of the proposed design method, adaptive output feedback neural tracking controllers for a mass-spring-damper system are constructed.

Lock-up control system for an automatic transmission

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Higashi, H.; Yashiki, S.; Waki, K.

A lock-up control system is described for an automatic transmission including a torque converter coupled with the output portion on an engine, and a power transmitting gear arrangement coupled with the output portion of the torque converter and controlled to vary the transmitting gear ratio therein by gear ratio control means in accordance with a shifting up or down command supplied to the latter. A lock-up clutch is provided for locking up the output portion of the torque converter to the output portion of the engine. The lock-up control system comprises: lock-up operation control means for controlling the lock-up clutchmore » to be in its operative state and in its inoperative state selectively, and for causing the lock-up clutch to be in the inoperative state thereof when the gear ratio control means performs the control with the shifting up or down command, and lock-up command means for preventing the lock-up operation control means from causing the lock-up clutch to be in the inoperative state thereof until a predetermined reductive variation in the speed of the output portion of the torque converter arises after the shifting up command is supplied to the gear ratio control means under the condition in which the lock-up clutch is in operation to hold a lock-up state.« less

Output control of da Vinci surgical system's surgical graspers.

PubMed

Johnson, Paul J; Schmidt, David E; Duvvuri, Umamaheswar

2014-01-01

The number of robot-assisted surgeries performed with the da Vinci surgical system has increased significantly over the past decade. The articulating movements of the robotic surgical grasper are controlled by grip controls at the master console. The user interface has been implicated as one contributing factor in surgical grasping errors. The goal of our study was to characterize and evaluate the user interface of the da Vinci surgical system in controlling surgical graspers. An angular manipulator with force sensors was used to increment the grip control angle as grasper output angles were measured. Input force at the grip control was simultaneously measured throughout the range of motion. Pressure film was used to assess the maximum grasping force achievable with the endoscopic grasping tool. The da Vinci robot's grip control angular input has a nonproportional relationship with the grasper instrument output. The grip control mechanism presents an intrinsic resistant force to the surgeon's fingertips and provides no haptic feedback. The da Vinci Maryland graspers are capable of applying up to 5.1 MPa of local pressure. The angular and force input at the grip control of the da Vinci robot's surgical graspers is nonproportional to the grasper instrument's output. Understanding the true relationship of the grip control input to grasper instrument output may help surgeons understand how to better control the surgical graspers and promote fewer grasping errors. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

X-ray source assembly having enhanced output stability, and fluid stream analysis applications thereof

DOEpatents

Radley, Ian; Bievenue, Thomas J.; Burdett Jr., John H.; Gallagher, Brian W.; Shakshober, Stuart M.; Chen, Zewu; Moore, Michael D.

2007-04-24

An x-ray source assembly (2700) and method of operation are provided having enhanced output stability. The assembly includes an anode (2125) having a source spot upon which electrons (2120) impinge and a control system (2715/2720) for controlling position of the anode source spot relative to an output structure. The control system can maintain the anode source spot location relative to the output structure (2710) notwithstanding a change in one or more operating conditions of the x-ray source assembly. One aspect of the disclosed invention is most amenable to the analysis of sulfur in petroleum-based fuels.

Flight Proofing Test Report for Abort Sensing and Control Unit Drawing No. 27-11111-821,

DTIC Science & Technology

8217 containing six rate gyro output detectors, thirteen pressure switch output detectors and associated circuitry needed to supply two ’ready-abort’ outputs as well as seventeen telemetry outputs. (Author)

[Soil and water losses and phosphorus output at the places between ridges in sloping peanut land under different planting modes in Yimeng mountainous area of Shandong Province, East China].

PubMed

Li, Jian-Hua; Yu, Xing-Xiu; Liu, Qian-Jin; Wu, Yuan-Zhi

2012-12-01

Taking the typical land use type, sloping Arachis hypogaea land, in Yimeng mountainous area of Shandong as study object, an in-situ fixed-point field experiment was conducted to study the characteristics of soil and water losses and phosphorus output at the places between ridges in the sloping land under different planting modes (Arachis hypogaea + Cynodon dactylon, I; A. hypogae + Melilotus officinalis, II; A. hypogaea + Lolium multiflorum, III; A. hypogaea + Trifolium repens, IV; A. hypogaea + blank control, V). Planting grasses at the places between ridges could effectively decrease the soil and water losses. The runoff was 55.1%-61.3% of the control, and decreased in the order of II > I > IV> III. The sediment loss was 3.4% -32.3% of the control, and decreased in the order of IV > II > I > 11. A. hypogaea + L. multiflorum was effective in storing water and retaining sediment. During the early period of planting L. multiflorum, the sediment loss was more affected by rainfall and presented a fluctuated variation, but in late period, the sediment loss decreased continuously and performed more stable, and accordingly, the sediment retention increased continuously. Planting grasses effectively decreased the output of phosphorus, with the decrease of total phosphorus (TP) output being 52.8%-75.3% of the control, and was in the order of I > II > IV > III. As compared with the control, planting grasses decreased 27.5% -67.0% of the output of particle phosphorus (PP), but relatively increased the output of dissolvable phosphorus (DP). A. hypogaea + L. multiflorum had the best effect in decreasing the output of phosphorus, with the outputs of TP and PP being 58.4% and 27.5% of the control, respectively. In the growth period of the vegetations, the losses of different phosphorus forms differed, and the dissolvable inorganic phosphorus was the main form of the output of DP during whole rain season. After the peanut harvested, the output of different phosphorus forms in the first rainfall was much higher than that in the maximum intensity rainfall.

Spectroscopic analysis and control

DOEpatents

Tate; , James D.; Reed, Christopher J.; Domke, Christopher H.; Le, Linh; Seasholtz, Mary Beth; Weber, Andy; Lipp, Charles

2017-04-18

Apparatus for spectroscopic analysis which includes a tunable diode laser spectrometer having a digital output signal and a digital computer for receiving the digital output signal from the spectrometer, the digital computer programmed to process the digital output signal using a multivariate regression algorithm. In addition, a spectroscopic method of analysis using such apparatus. Finally, a method for controlling an ethylene cracker hydrogenator.

Dynamic output feedback control of a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle via T-S fuzzy approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Xiaoxiang; Wu, Ligang; Hu, Changhua; Wang, Zhaoqiang; Gao, Huijun

2014-08-01

By utilising Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy set approach, this paper addresses the robust H∞ dynamic output feedback control for the non-linear longitudinal model of flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicles (FAHVs). The flight control of FAHVs is highly challenging due to the unique dynamic characteristics, and the intricate couplings between the engine and fight dynamics and external disturbance. Because of the dynamics' enormous complexity, currently, only the longitudinal dynamics models of FAHVs have been used for controller design. In this work, T-S fuzzy modelling technique is utilised to approach the non-linear dynamics of FAHVs, then a fuzzy model is developed for the output tracking problem of FAHVs. The fuzzy model contains parameter uncertainties and disturbance, which can approach the non-linear dynamics of FAHVs more exactly. The flexible models of FAHVs are difficult to measure because of the complex dynamics and the strong couplings, thus a full-order dynamic output feedback controller is designed for the fuzzy model. A robust H∞ controller is designed for the obtained closed-loop system. By utilising the Lyapunov functional approach, sufficient solvability conditions for such controllers are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed T-S fuzzy dynamic output feedback control method is demonstrated by numerical simulations.

A comparison of two multi-variable integrator windup protection schemes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mattern, Duane

1993-01-01

Two methods are examined for limit and integrator wind-up protection for multi-input, multi-output linear controllers subject to actuator constraints. The methods begin with an existing linear controller that satisfies the specifications for the nominal, small perturbation, linear model of the plant. The controllers are formulated to include an additional contribution to the state derivative calculations. The first method to be examined is the multi-variable version of the single-input, single-output, high gain, Conventional Anti-Windup (CAW) scheme. Except for the actuator limits, the CAW scheme is linear. The second scheme to be examined, denoted the Modified Anti-Windup (MAW) scheme, uses a scalar to modify the magnitude of the controller output vector while maintaining the vector direction. The calculation of the scalar modifier is a nonlinear function of the controller outputs and the actuator limits. In both cases the constrained actuator is tracked. These two integrator windup protection methods are demonstrated on a turbofan engine control system with five measurements, four control variables, and four actuators. The closed-loop responses of the two schemes are compared and contrasted during limit operation. The issue of maintaining the direction of the controller output vector using the Modified Anti-Windup scheme is discussed and the advantages and disadvantages of both of the IWP methods are presented.

System and methods for reducing harmonic distortion in electrical converters

DOEpatents

Kajouke, Lateef A; Perisic, Milun; Ransom, Ray M

2013-12-03

Systems and methods are provided for delivering energy using an energy conversion module. An exemplary method for delivering energy from an input interface to an output interface using an energy converison module coupled between the input interface and the output interface comprises the steps of determining an input voltage reference for the input interface based on a desired output voltage and a measured voltage and the output interface, determining a duty cycle control value based on a ratio of the input voltage reference and the measured voltage, operating one or more switching elements of the energy conversion module to deliver energy from the input interface to the output interface to the output interface with a duty cycle influenced by the dute cycle control value.

Stabilization of nonlinear systems using sampled-data output-feedback fuzzy controller based on polynomial-fuzzy-model-based control approach.

PubMed

Lam, H K

2012-02-01

This paper investigates the stability of sampled-data output-feedback (SDOF) polynomial-fuzzy-model-based control systems. Representing the nonlinear plant using a polynomial fuzzy model, an SDOF fuzzy controller is proposed to perform the control process using the system output information. As only the system output is available for feedback compensation, it is more challenging for the controller design and system analysis compared to the full-state-feedback case. Furthermore, because of the sampling activity, the control signal is kept constant by the zero-order hold during the sampling period, which complicates the system dynamics and makes the stability analysis more difficult. In this paper, two cases of SDOF fuzzy controllers, which either share the same number of fuzzy rules or not, are considered. The system stability is investigated based on the Lyapunov stability theory using the sum-of-squares (SOS) approach. SOS-based stability conditions are obtained to guarantee the system stability and synthesize the SDOF fuzzy controller. Simulation examples are given to demonstrate the merits of the proposed SDOF fuzzy control approach.

Active flutter suppression using optical output feedback digital controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

A method for synthesizing digital active flutter suppression controllers using the concept of optimal output feedback is presented. A convergent algorithm is employed to determine constrained control law parameters that minimize an infinite time discrete quadratic performance index. Low order compensator dynamics are included in the control law and the compensator parameters are computed along with the output feedback gain as part of the optimization process. An input noise adjustment procedure is used to improve the stability margins of the digital active flutter controller. Sample rate variation, prefilter pole variation, control structure variation and gain scheduling are discussed. A digital control law which accommodates computation delay can stabilize the wing with reasonable rms performance and adequate stability margins.

Methods, systems and apparatus for controlling operation of two alternating current (AC) machines

DOEpatents

Gallegos-Lopez, Gabriel [Torrance, CA; Nagashima, James M [Cerritos, CA; Perisic, Milun [Torrance, CA; Hiti, Silva [Redondo Beach, CA

2012-06-05

A system is provided for controlling two alternating current (AC) machines via a five-phase PWM inverter module. The system comprises a first control loop, a second control loop, and a current command adjustment module. The current command adjustment module operates in conjunction with the first control loop and the second control loop to continuously adjust current command signals that control the first AC machine and the second AC machine such that they share the input voltage available to them without compromising the target mechanical output power of either machine. This way, even when the phase voltage available to either one of the machines decreases, that machine outputs its target mechanical output power.

Methods, apparatus, and systems for monitoring transmission systems

DOEpatents

Polk, Robert E; Svoboda, John M; West, Phillip B; Heath, Gail L; Scott, Clark L

2015-01-27

A sensing platform for monitoring a transmission system, and method therefor, may include a sensor that senses one or more conditions relating to a condition of the transmission system and/or the condition of an environment around the transmission system. A control system operatively associated with the sensor produces output data based on an output signal produced by the sensor. A transmitter operatively associated with the control system transmits the output data from the control system.

Methods, apparatus, and systems for monitoring transmission systems

DOEpatents

Polk, Robert E [Idaho Falls, ID; Svoboda, John M [Idaho Falls, ID; West, Phillip B [Idaho Falls, ID; Heath, Gail L [Iona, ID; Scott, Clark L [Idaho Falls, ID

2010-08-31

A sensing platform for monitoring a transmission system, and method therefor, may include a sensor that senses one or more conditions relating to a condition of the transmission system and/or the condition of an environment around the transmission system. A control system operatively associated with the sensor produces output data based on an output signal produced by the sensor. A transmitter operatively associated with the control system transmits the output data from the control system.

Methods, apparatus, and systems for monitoring transmission systems

DOEpatents

Polk, Robert E; Svoboda, John M.; West, Phillip B.; Heath, Gail L.; Scott, Clark L.

2016-07-19

A sensing platform for monitoring a transmission system, and method therefor, may include a sensor that senses one or more conditions relating to a condition of the transmission system and/or the condition of an environment around the transmission system. A control system operatively associated with the sensor produces output data based on an output signal produced by the sensor. A transmitter operatively associated with the control system transmits the output data from the control system.

Observer-based output consensus of a class of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with unmatched disturbances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jiancheng; Zhu, Fanglai

2018-03-01

In this paper, the output consensus of a class of linear heterogeneous multi-agent systems with unmatched disturbances is considered. Firstly, based on the relative output information among neighboring agents, we propose an asymptotic sliding-mode based consensus control scheme, under which, the output consensus error can converge to zero by removing the disturbances from output channels. Secondly, in order to reach the consensus goal, we design a novel high-order unknown input observer for each agent. It can estimate not only each agent's states and disturbances, but also the disturbances' high-order derivatives, which are required in the control scheme aforementioned above. The observer-based consensus control laws and the convergence analysis of the consensus error dynamics are given. Finally, a simulation example is provided to verify the validity of our methods.

Integrated Flight/Structural Mode Control for Very Flexible Aircraft Using L1 Adaptive Output Feedback Controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Che, Jiaxing; Cao, Chengyu; Gregory, Irene M.

2012-01-01

This paper explores application of adaptive control architecture to a light, high-aspect ratio, flexible aircraft configuration that exhibits strong rigid body/flexible mode coupling. Specifically, an L(sub 1) adaptive output feedback controller is developed for a semi-span wind tunnel model capable of motion. The wind tunnel mount allows the semi-span model to translate vertically and pitch at the wing root, resulting in better simulation of an aircraft s rigid body motion. The control objective is to design a pitch control with altitude hold while suppressing body freedom flutter. The controller is an output feedback nominal controller (LQG) augmented by an L(sub 1) adaptive loop. A modification to the L(sub 1) output feedback is proposed to make it more suitable for flexible structures. The new control law relaxes the required bounds on the unmatched uncertainty and allows dependence on the state as well as time, i.e. a more general unmatched nonlinearity. The paper presents controller development and simulated performance responses. Simulation is conducted by using full state flexible wing models derived from test data at 10 different dynamic pressure conditions. An L(sub 1) adaptive output feedback controller is designed for a single test point and is then applied to all the test cases. The simulation results show that the L(sub 1) augmented controller can stabilize and meet the performance requirements for all 10 test conditions ranging from 30 psf to 130 psf dynamic pressure.

Optimal input selection for neural machine interfaces predicting multiple non-explicit outputs.

PubMed

Krepkovich, Eileen T; Perreault, Eric J

2008-01-01

This study implemented a novel algorithm that optimally selects inputs for neural machine interface (NMI) devices intended to control multiple outputs and evaluated its performance on systems lacking explicit output. NMIs often incorporate signals from multiple physiological sources and provide predictions for multidimensional control, leading to multiple-input multiple-output systems. Further, NMIs often are used with subjects who have motor disabilities and thus lack explicit motor outputs. Our algorithm was tested on simulated multiple-input multiple-output systems and on electromyogram and kinematic data collected from healthy subjects performing arm reaches. Effects of output noise in simulated systems indicated that the algorithm could be useful for systems with poor estimates of the output states, as is true for systems lacking explicit motor output. To test efficacy on physiological data, selection was performed using inputs from one subject and outputs from a different subject. Selection was effective for these cases, again indicating that this algorithm will be useful for predictions where there is no motor output, as often is the case for disabled subjects. Further, prediction results generalized for different movement types not used for estimation. These results demonstrate the efficacy of this algorithm for the development of neural machine interfaces.

Minimal complexity control law synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bernstein, Dennis S.; Haddad, Wassim M.; Nett, Carl N.

1989-01-01

A paradigm for control law design for modern engineering systems is proposed: Minimize control law complexity subject to the achievement of a specified accuracy in the face of a specified level of uncertainty. Correspondingly, the overall goal is to make progress towards the development of a control law design methodology which supports this paradigm. Researchers achieve this goal by developing a general theory of optimal constrained-structure dynamic output feedback compensation, where here constrained-structure means that the dynamic-structure (e.g., dynamic order, pole locations, zero locations, etc.) of the output feedback compensation is constrained in some way. By applying this theory in an innovative fashion, where here the indicated iteration occurs over the choice of the compensator dynamic-structure, the paradigm stated above can, in principle, be realized. The optimal constrained-structure dynamic output feedback problem is formulated in general terms. An elegant method for reducing optimal constrained-structure dynamic output feedback problems to optimal static output feedback problems is then developed. This reduction procedure makes use of star products, linear fractional transformations, and linear fractional decompositions, and yields as a byproduct a complete characterization of the class of optimal constrained-structure dynamic output feedback problems which can be reduced to optimal static output feedback problems. Issues such as operational/physical constraints, operating-point variations, and processor throughput/memory limitations are considered, and it is shown how anti-windup/bumpless transfer, gain-scheduling, and digital processor implementation can be facilitated by constraining the controller dynamic-structure in an appropriate fashion.

Adaptive Backstepping-Based Neural Tracking Control for MIMO Nonlinear Switched Systems Subject to Input Delays.

PubMed

Niu, Ben; Li, Lu

2018-06-01

This brief proposes a new neural-network (NN)-based adaptive output tracking control scheme for a class of disturbed multiple-input multiple-output uncertain nonlinear switched systems with input delays. By combining the universal approximation ability of radial basis function NNs and adaptive backstepping recursive design with an improved multiple Lyapunov function (MLF) scheme, a novel adaptive neural output tracking controller design method is presented for the switched system. The feature of the developed design is that different coordinate transformations are adopted to overcome the conservativeness caused by adopting a common coordinate transformation for all subsystems. It is shown that all the variables of the resulting closed-loop system are semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded under a class of switching signals in the presence of MLF and that the system output can follow the desired reference signal. To demonstrate the practicability of the obtained result, an adaptive neural output tracking controller is designed for a mass-spring-damper system.

Output transformations and separation results for feedback linearisable delay systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cacace, F.; Conte, F.; Germani, A.

2018-04-01

The class of strict-feedback systems enjoys special properties that make it similar to linear systems. This paper proves that such a class is equivalent, under a change of coordinates, to the wider class of feedback linearisable systems with multiplicative input, when the multiplicative terms are functions of the measured variables only. We apply this result to the control problem of feedback linearisable nonlinear MIMO systems with input and/or output delays. In this way, we provide sufficient conditions under which a separation result holds for output feedback control and moreover a predictor-based controller exists. When these conditions are satisfied, we obtain that the existence of stabilising controllers for arbitrarily large delays in the input and/or the output can be proved for a wider class of systems than previously known.

Adaptive Fuzzy Output Constrained Control Design for Multi-Input Multioutput Stochastic Nonstrict-Feedback Nonlinear Systems.

PubMed

Li, Yongming; Tong, Shaocheng

2017-12-01

In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy output constrained control design approach is addressed for multi-input multioutput uncertain stochastic nonlinear systems in nonstrict-feedback form. The nonlinear systems addressed in this paper possess unstructured uncertainties, unknown gain functions and unknown stochastic disturbances. Fuzzy logic systems are utilized to tackle the problem of unknown nonlinear uncertainties. The barrier Lyapunov function technique is employed to solve the output constrained problem. In the framework of backstepping design, an adaptive fuzzy control design scheme is constructed. All the signals in the closed-loop system are proved to be bounded in probability and the system outputs are constrained in a given compact set. Finally, the applicability of the proposed controller is well carried out by a simulation example.

Microprocessor control of multiple peak power tracking DC/DC converters for use with solar cell arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frederick, Martin E. (Inventor); Jermakian, Joel (Inventor)

1991-01-01

A method and an apparatus is provided for efficiently controlling the power output of a solar cell array string or a plurality of solar cell array strings to achieve a maximum amount of output power from the strings under varying conditions of use. Maximum power output from a solar array string is achieved through control of a pulse width modulated DC/DC buck converter which transfers power from a solar array to a load or battery bus. The input voltage from the solar array to the converter is controlled by a pulse width modulation duty cycle, which in turn is controlled by a differential signal controller. By periodically adjusting the control voltage up or down by a small amount and comparing the power on the load or bus with that generated at different voltage values a maximum power output voltage may be obtained. The system is totally modular and additional solar array strings may be added to the system simply by adding converter boards to the system and changing some constants in the controller's control routines.

Low energy availability surrogates correlate with health and performance consequences of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport.

PubMed

Ackerman, Kathryn E; Holtzman, Bryan; Cooper, Katherine M; Flynn, Erin F; Bruinvels, Georgie; Tenforde, Adam S; Popp, Kristin L; Simpkin, Andrew J; Parziale, Allyson L

2018-06-02

Low energy availability (EA) is suspected to be the underlying cause of both the Female Athlete Triad and the more recently defined syndrome, Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defined RED-S as a syndrome of health and performance impairments resulting from an energy deficit. While the importance of adequate EA is generally accepted, few studies have attempted to understand whether low EA is associated with the health and performance consequences posited by the IOC. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the association of low EA with RED-S health and performance consequences in a large clinical population of female athletes. One thousand female athletes (15-30 years) completed an online questionnaire and were classified as having low or adequate EA. The associations between low EA and the health and performance factors listed in the RED-S models were evaluated using chi-squared test and the odds ratios were evaluated using binomial logistic regression (p<0.05). Athletes with low EA were more likely to be classified as having increased risk of menstrual dysfunction, poor bone health, metabolic issues, haematological detriments, psychological disorders, cardiovascular impairment and gastrointestinal dysfunction than those with adequate EA. Performance variables associated with low EA included decreased training response, impaired judgement, decreased coordination, decreased concentration, irritability, depression and decreased endurance performance. These findings demonstrate that low EA measured using self-report questionnaires is strongly associated with many health and performance consequences proposed by the RED-S models. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

International Olympic Committee consensus statement on thermoregulatory and altitude challenges for high-level athletes.

PubMed

Bergeron, M F; Bahr, R; Bärtsch, P; Bourdon, L; Calbet, J A L; Carlsen, K H; Castagna, O; González-Alonso, J; Lundby, C; Maughan, R J; Millet, G; Mountjoy, M; Racinais, S; Rasmussen, P; Singh, D G; Subudhi, A W; Young, A J; Soligard, T; Engebretsen, L

2012-09-01

Challenging environmental conditions, including heat and humidity, cold, and altitude, pose particular risks to the health of Olympic and other high-level athletes. As a further commitment to athlete safety, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical Commission convened a panel of experts to review the scientific evidence base, reach consensus, and underscore practical safety guidelines and new research priorities regarding the unique environmental challenges Olympic and other international-level athletes face. For non-aquatic events, external thermal load is dependent on ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar radiation, while clothing and protective gear can measurably increase thermal strain and prompt premature fatigue. In swimmers, body heat loss is the direct result of convection at a rate that is proportional to the effective water velocity around the swimmer and the temperature difference between the skin and the water. Other cold exposure and conditions, such as during Alpine skiing, biathlon and other sliding sports, facilitate body heat transfer to the environment, potentially leading to hypothermia and/or frostbite; although metabolic heat production during these activities usually increases well above the rate of body heat loss, and protective clothing and limited exposure time in certain events reduces these clinical risks as well. Most athletic events are held at altitudes that pose little to no health risks; and training exposures are typically brief and well-tolerated. While these and other environment-related threats to performance and safety can be lessened or averted by implementing a variety of individual and event preventative measures, more research and evidence-based guidelines and recommendations are needed. In the mean time, the IOC Medical Commission and International Sport Federations have implemented new guidelines and taken additional steps to mitigate risk even further.

Injury and illness surveillance during the 24th Men's Handball World Championship 2015 in Qatar.

PubMed

Bere, Tone; Alonso, Juan-Manuel; Wangensteen, Arnlaug; Bakken, Arnhild; Eirale, Cristiano; Dijkstra, H Paul; Ahmed, Hosny; Bahr, Roald; Popovic, Nebojsa

2015-09-01

The IOC encourages international federations to establish systematic athlete injury and illness surveillance programmes. To describe pattern of injuries and illnesses during the 24th Men's Handball World Championship 2015 by implementing the IOC injury and illness surveillance protocol. The medical staff of participating teams (n=24) were requested to report all new injuries and illnesses during matches and/or training on a daily basis throughout the event (15 January to 1 February, 2015). Exposure (number of player-hours) during all matches was calculated for all players (n=384) and for each of the 4 player positions (wing, back, line and goalkeeper). Medical staff of all teams submitted 96.7% (n=325) of the daily report forms. In total, 27.1% of the players were injured, and of the 132 injuries reported, 40% were time-loss injuries. The total incidence of injuries was 104.5 per 1000 player-hours. The highest risk of injury was found among line players, and more injuries occurred during the first half of the matches. The most frequent injury location was the ankle, followed by the thigh, knee and head/face. The majority of injuries were contusion, sprain or strain. In total, 10.9% of the players were affected by an illness during the event. Of the 42 cases recorded, 31 (73.8%) were reported as respiratory tract infection. The risk of injury in handball is high among Olympic sports. Preventive measures should focus on contusions, ankle sprains, and thigh muscle strains, as well as measures aimed to reduce upper respiratory tract infections. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

[Effect of climatic mean value change on the evaluation result of rice delayed cold damage in Liaoning Province, Northeast China].

PubMed

Ji, Rui-peng; Yu, Wen-ying; Wu, Jin-wen; Feng, Rui; Zhang, Yu-shu

2015-06-01

The anomaly of mean temperature summation from May to September (ΔT5-9) was commonly used to assess delayed cold damage of rice in Northeast China, but whether the change of statistics years for climatic mean value (ΣT5-9) would affect the, evaluation results of Liaoning rice under cold damage needed to be further studied. By using the meteorological industry standard of the People's Republic of China "technical standard on rice cold damage evaluation" (QX/T 182- 2013) and the supplemental indices (ΔT5-9), the index (ΣT5-9) was calculated in four periods 1961-1990 (S1), 1971-2000 (S2), 1981-2010 (S3) and 1961-2010 (S4), and the spatial and temporal changes of cold damage in Liaoning Province were analyzed based on the ratio between cold damage stations and total stations (IOC) and the occurrence frequency. The results showed that the heat condition (Σ T5-9) in rice growing season increased obviously and the spatial and temporal changes were significant from 1961 to 2010. The original meteorological index of rice cold damage was improved by using quadratic polynomial model. The identification results were similar between S2 and S4. The variation coefficient of IOC in S3 was lower than that of the other three. Compared with the typical rice yield reduction years, the evaluation results accorded better with the actual situation in evaluating the rice delayed cold damage in Liaoning during study period by using the S3 climate mean value. The results could provide evidence for accurately evaluating the variation of rice cold damage in spatial and temporal distribution in Liaoning Province under the background of global climate change.

System level analysis and control of manufacturing process variation

DOEpatents

Hamada, Michael S.; Martz, Harry F.; Eleswarpu, Jay K.; Preissler, Michael J.

2005-05-31

A computer-implemented method is implemented for determining the variability of a manufacturing system having a plurality of subsystems. Each subsystem of the plurality of subsystems is characterized by signal factors, noise factors, control factors, and an output response, all having mean and variance values. Response models are then fitted to each subsystem to determine unknown coefficients for use in the response models that characterize the relationship between the signal factors, noise factors, control factors, and the corresponding output response having mean and variance values that are related to the signal factors, noise factors, and control factors. The response models for each subsystem are coupled to model the output of the manufacturing system as a whole. The coefficients of the fitted response models are randomly varied to propagate variances through the plurality of subsystems and values of signal factors and control factors are found to optimize the output of the manufacturing system to meet a specified criterion.

Integrated optics reflectometer

DOEpatents

Couch, Philip R; Murphy, Kent A.; Gunther, Michael F; Gause, Charles B

2017-01-31

An apparatus includes a laser source configured to output laser light at a target frequency, and a measurement unit configured to measure a deviation between an actual frequency outputted by the laser source at a current period of time and the target frequency of the laser source. The apparatus includes a feedback control unit configured to, based on the measured deviation between the actual and target frequencies, control the laser source to maintain a constant frequency of laser output from the laser source so that the frequency of laser light transmitted from the laser source is adjusted to the target frequency. The feedback control unit can control the laser source to maintain a linear rate of change in the frequency of its laser light output, and compensate for characteristics of the measurement unit utilized for frequency measurement. A method is provided for performing the feedback control of the laser source.

Arcjet power supply and start circuit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gruber, Robert P. (Inventor)

1988-01-01

A dc power supply for spacecraft arcjet thrusters has an integral automatic starting circuit and an output averaging inductor. The output averaging inductor, in series with the load, provides instantaneous current control, and ignition pulse and an isolated signal proportional to the arc voltage. A pulse width modulated converter, close loop configured, is also incorporated to give fast response output current control.

Automatic control and detector for three-terminal resistance measurement

DOEpatents

Fasching, George E.

1976-10-26

A device is provided for automatic control and detection in a three-terminal resistance measuring instrument. The invention is useful for the rapid measurement of the resistivity of various bulk material with a three-terminal electrode system. The device maintains the current through the sample at a fixed level while measuring the voltage across the sample to detect the sample resistance. The three-electrode system contacts the bulk material and the current through the sample is held constant by means of a control circuit connected to a first of the three electrodes and works in conjunction with a feedback controlled amplifier to null the voltage between the first electrode and a second electrode connected to the controlled amplifier output. An A.C. oscillator provides a source of sinusoidal reference voltage of the frequency at which the measurement is to be executed. Synchronous reference pulses for synchronous detectors in the control circuit and an output detector circuit are provided by a synchronous pulse generator. The output of the controlled amplifier circuit is sampled by an output detector circuit to develop at an output terminal thereof a D.C. voltage which is proportional to the sample resistance R. The sample resistance is that segment of the sample between the area of the first electrode and the third electrode, which is connected to ground potential.

Output Consensus of Heterogeneous Linear Multi-Agent Systems by Distributed Event-Triggered/Self-Triggered Strategy.

PubMed

Hu, Wenfeng; Liu, Lu; Feng, Gang

2016-09-02

This paper addresses the output consensus problem of heterogeneous linear multi-agent systems. We first propose a novel distributed event-triggered control scheme. It is shown that, with the proposed control scheme, the output consensus problem can be solved if two matrix equations are satisfied. Then, we further propose a novel self-triggered control scheme, with which continuous monitoring is avoided. By introducing a fixed timer into both event- and self-triggered control schemes, Zeno behavior can be ruled out for each agent. The effectiveness of the event- and self-triggered control schemes is illustrated by an example.

Model-free adaptive control of supercritical circulating fluidized-bed boilers

DOEpatents

Cheng, George Shu-Xing; Mulkey, Steven L

2014-12-16

A novel 3-Input-3-Output (3.times.3) Fuel-Air Ratio Model-Free Adaptive (MFA) controller is introduced, which can effectively control key process variables including Bed Temperature, Excess O2, and Furnace Negative Pressure of combustion processes of advanced boilers. A novel 7-input-7-output (7.times.7) MFA control system is also described for controlling a combined 3-Input-3-Output (3.times.3) process of Boiler-Turbine-Generator (BTG) units and a 5.times.5 CFB combustion process of advanced boilers. Those boilers include Circulating Fluidized-Bed (CFB) Boilers and Once-Through Supercritical Circulating Fluidized-Bed (OTSC CFB) Boilers.

Global Output-Feedback Control for Simultaneous Tracking and Stabilization of Wheeled Mobile Robots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, J.; Zhang, L. J.; Xue, D.

A time-varying global output-feedback controller is presented that solves both tracking and stabilization for wheeled mobile robots simultaneously at the torque level. The controller synthesis is based on a coordinate transformation, Lyapunov direct method and backstepping technique. The performance of the proposed controller is demonstrated by simulation.

Smoothing Control of Wind Farm Output by Using Kinetic Energy of Variable Speed Wind Power Generators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Daiki; Saitoh, Hiroumi

This paper proposes a new control method for reducing fluctuation of power system frequency through smoothing active power output of wind farm. The proposal is based on the modulation of rotaional kinetic energy of variable speed wind power generators through power converters between permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG) and transmission lines. In this paper, the proposed control is called Fluctuation Absorption by Flywheel Characteristics control (FAFC). The FAFC can be easily implemented by adding wind farm output signal to Maximum Power Point Tracking control signal through a feedback control loop. In order to verify the effectiveness of the FAFC control, a simulation study was carried out. In the study, it was assumed that the wind farm consisting of PMSG type wind power generator and induction machine type wind power generaotors is connected with a power sysem. The results of the study show that the FAFC control is a useful method for reducing the impacts of wind farm output fluctuation on system frequency without additional devices such as secondary battery.

Adaptive neural network decentralized backstepping output-feedback control for nonlinear large-scale systems with time delays.

PubMed

Tong, Shao Cheng; Li, Yong Ming; Zhang, Hua-Guang

2011-07-01

In this paper, two adaptive neural network (NN) decentralized output feedback control approaches are proposed for a class of uncertain nonlinear large-scale systems with immeasurable states and unknown time delays. Using NNs to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions, an NN state observer is designed to estimate the immeasurable states. By combining the adaptive backstepping technique with decentralized control design principle, an adaptive NN decentralized output feedback control approach is developed. In order to overcome the problem of "explosion of complexity" inherent in the proposed control approach, the dynamic surface control (DSC) technique is introduced into the first adaptive NN decentralized control scheme, and a simplified adaptive NN decentralized output feedback DSC approach is developed. It is proved that the two proposed control approaches can guarantee that all the signals of the closed-loop system are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the observer errors and the tracking errors converge to a small neighborhood of the origin. Simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.

Quadcopter Path Following Control Design Using Output Feedback with Command Generator Tracker LOS Based At Square Path

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nugraha, A. T.; Agustinah, T.

2018-01-01

Quadcopter an unstable system, underactuated and nonlinear in quadcopter control research developments become an important focus of attention. In this study, following the path control method for position on the X and Y axis, used structure-Generator Tracker Command (CGT) is tested. Attitude control and position feedback quadcopter is compared using the optimal output. The addition of the H∞ performance optimal output feedback control is used to maintain the stability and robustness of quadcopter. Iterative numerical techniques Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) is used to find the gain controller. The following path control problems is solved using the method of LQ regulators with output feedback. Simulations show that the control system can follow the paths that have been defined in the form of a reference signal square shape. The result of the simulation suggest that the method which used can bring the yaw angle at the expected value algorithm. Quadcopter can do automatically following path with cross track error mean X=0.5 m and Y=0.2 m.

Motor Controller System For Large Dynamic Range of Motor Operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, David E. (Inventor); Alhorn, Dean C. (Inventor); Smith, Dennis A. (Inventor); Dutton, Kenneth R. (Inventor); Paulson, Mitchell Scott (Inventor)

2006-01-01

A motor controller system uses a rotary sensor with a plurality of signal conditioning units, coupled to the rotary sensor. Each of these units, which is associated with a particular range of motor output shaft rotation rates, generate a feedback signal indicative of the position of the motor s output shaft. A controller (i) converts a selected motor output shaft rotation rate to a corresponding incremental amount of rotational movement for a selected fixed time period, (ii) selects, at periodic completions of the selected fixed time period, the feedback signal from one of the signal conditioning units for which the particular range of motor output shaft rotation rates associated therewith encompasses the selected motor output shaft rotation rate, and (iii) generates a motor drive signal based on a difference between the incremental amount of rotational movement and the feedback signal from the selected one of the signal conditioning Units.

Improving dynamic performances of PWM-driven servo-pneumatic systems via a novel pneumatic circuit.

PubMed

Taghizadeh, Mostafa; Ghaffari, Ali; Najafi, Farid

2009-10-01

In this paper, the effect of pneumatic circuit design on the input-output behavior of PWM-driven servo-pneumatic systems is investigated and their control performances are improved using linear controllers instead of complex and costly nonlinear ones. Generally, servo-pneumatic systems are well known for their nonlinear behavior. However, PWM-driven servo-pneumatic systems have the advantage of flexibility in the design of pneumatic circuits which affects the input-output linearity of the whole system. A simple pneumatic circuit with only one fast switching valve is designed which leads to a quasi-linear input-output relation. The quasi-linear behavior of the proposed circuit is verified both experimentally and by simulations. Closed loop position control experiments are then carried out using linear P- and PD-controllers. Since the output position is noisy and cannot be directly differentiated, a Kalman filter is designed to estimate the velocity of the cylinder. Highly improved tracking performances are obtained using these linear controllers, compared to previous works with nonlinear controllers.

Evaluating Multi-Input/Multi-Output Digital Control Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pototzky, Anthony S.; Wieseman, Carol D.; Hoadley, Sherwood T.; Mukhopadhyay, Vivek

1994-01-01

Controller-performance-evaluation (CPE) methodology for multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) digital control systems developed. Procedures identify potentially destabilizing controllers and confirm satisfactory performance of stabilizing ones. Methodology generic and used in many types of multi-loop digital-controller applications, including digital flight-control systems, digitally controlled spacecraft structures, and actively controlled wind-tunnel models. Also applicable to other complex, highly dynamic digital controllers, such as those in high-performance robot systems.

Incremental passivity and output regulation for switched nonlinear systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pang, Hongbo; Zhao, Jun

2017-10-01

This paper studies incremental passivity and global output regulation for switched nonlinear systems, whose subsystems are not required to be incrementally passive. A concept of incremental passivity for switched systems is put forward. First, a switched system is rendered incrementally passive by the design of a state-dependent switching law. Second, the feedback incremental passification is achieved by the design of a state-dependent switching law and a set of state feedback controllers. Finally, we show that once the incremental passivity for switched nonlinear systems is assured, the output regulation problem is solved by the design of global nonlinear regulator controllers comprising two components: the steady-state control and the linear output feedback stabilising controllers, even though the problem for none of subsystems is solvable. Two examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

A software control system for the ACTS high-burst-rate link evaluation terminal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reinhart, Richard C.; Daugherty, Elaine S.

1991-01-01

Control and performance monitoring of NASA's High Burst Rate Link Evaluation Terminal (HBR-LET) is accomplished by using several software control modules. Different software modules are responsible for controlling remote radio frequency (RF) instrumentation, supporting communication between a host and a remote computer, controlling the output power of the Link Evaluation Terminal and data display. Remote commanding of microwave RF instrumentation and the LET digital ground terminal allows computer control of various experiments, including bit error rate measurements. Computer communication allows system operators to transmit and receive from the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS). Finally, the output power control software dynamically controls the uplink output power of the terminal to compensate for signal loss due to rain fade. Included is a discussion of each software module and its applications.

Digital transmitter for data bus communications system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Proch, G. E.

1974-01-01

Digital transmitter designed for Manchester coded signals (and all signals with ac waveforms) generated at a rate of one megabit per second includes efficient output isolation circuit. Transmitter consists of logic control section, amplifier, and output isolation section. Output isolation circuit provides dynamic impedance at terminals as function of amplifier output level.

Adaptive neural output-feedback control for nonstrict-feedback time-delay fractional-order systems with output constraints and actuator nonlinearities.

PubMed

Zouari, Farouk; Ibeas, Asier; Boulkroune, Abdesselem; Cao, Jinde; Mehdi Arefi, Mohammad

2018-06-01

This study addresses the issue of the adaptive output tracking control for a category of uncertain nonstrict-feedback delayed incommensurate fractional-order systems in the presence of nonaffine structures, unmeasured pseudo-states, unknown control directions, unknown actuator nonlinearities and output constraints. Firstly, the mean value theorem and the Gaussian error function are introduced to eliminate the difficulties that arise from the nonaffine structures and the unknown actuator nonlinearities, respectively. Secondly, the immeasurable tracking error variables are suitably estimated by constructing a fractional-order linear observer. Thirdly, the neural network, the Razumikhin Lemma, the variable separation approach, and the smooth Nussbaum-type function are used to deal with the uncertain nonlinear dynamics, the unknown time-varying delays, the nonstrict feedback and the unknown control directions, respectively. Fourthly, asymmetric barrier Lyapunov functions are employed to overcome the violation of the output constraints and to tune online the parameters of the adaptive neural controller. Through rigorous analysis, it is proved that the boundedness of all variables in the closed-loop system and the semi global asymptotic tracking are ensured without transgression of the constraints. The principal contributions of this study can be summarized as follows: (1) based on Caputo's definitions and new lemmas, methods concerning the controllability, observability and stability analysis of integer-order systems are extended to fractional-order ones, (2) the output tracking objective for a relatively large class of uncertain systems is achieved with a simple controller and less tuning parameters. Finally, computer-simulation studies from the robotic field are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fuzzy logic modeling of the resistivity parameter and topography features for aquifer assessment in hydrogeological investigation of a crystalline basement complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adabanija, M. A.; Omidiora, E. O.; Olayinka, A. I.

2008-05-01

A linguistic fuzzy logic system (LFLS)-based expert system model has been developed for the assessment of aquifers for the location of productive water boreholes in a crystalline basement complex. The model design employed a multiple input/single output (MISO) approach with geoelectrical parameters and topographic features as input variables and control crisp value as the output. The application of the method to the data acquired in Khondalitic terrain, a basement complex in Vizianagaram District, south India, shows that potential groundwater resource zones that have control output values in the range 0.3295-0.3484 have a yield greater than 6,000 liters per hour (LPH). The range 0.3174-0.3226 gives a yield less than 4,000 LPH. The validation of the control crisp value using data acquired from Oban Massif, a basement complex in southeastern Nigeria, indicates a yield less than 3,000 LPH for control output values in the range 0.2938-0.3065. This validation corroborates the ability of control output values to predict a yield, thereby vindicating the applicability of linguistic fuzzy logic system in siting productive water boreholes in a basement complex.

A controls engineering approach for analyzing airplane input-output characteristics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arbuckle, P. Douglas

1991-01-01

An engineering approach for analyzing airplane control and output characteristics is presented. State-space matrix equations describing the linear perturbation dynamics are transformed from physical coordinates into scaled coordinates. The scaling is accomplished by applying various transformations to the system to employ prior engineering knowledge of the airplane physics. Two different analysis techniques are then explained. Modal analysis techniques calculate the influence of each system input on each fundamental mode of motion and the distribution of each mode among the system outputs. The optimal steady state response technique computes the blending of steady state control inputs that optimize the steady state response of selected system outputs. Analysis of an example airplane model is presented to demonstrate the described engineering approach.

Markov Modeling of Component Fault Growth over a Derived Domain of Feasible Output Control Effort Modifications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bole, Brian; Goebel, Kai; Vachtsevanos, George

2012-01-01

This paper introduces a novel Markov process formulation of stochastic fault growth modeling, in order to facilitate the development and analysis of prognostics-based control adaptation. A metric representing the relative deviation between the nominal output of a system and the net output that is actually enacted by an implemented prognostics-based control routine, will be used to define the action space of the formulated Markov process. The state space of the Markov process will be defined in terms of an abstracted metric representing the relative health remaining in each of the system s components. The proposed formulation of component fault dynamics will conveniently relate feasible system output performance modifications to predictions of future component health deterioration.

Proceedings of the Symposium on Scanning Antennas (4th) held on 21-22 Apr 1952 at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC

DTIC Science & Technology

1952-07-18

sinŕ (h/njy ) Computations have been performed to determine the optimum values of % % and R 2, ^withthe reflector radius R taken äs unity, for...various values of the refractive index,*? -Ä sample set of parameters is a = l’.o2r, R^ = Q.jLiO, and Rg. =J)7355. ^ \\ F-iguEe 2•’’- ’Cansiru&tZa...Thi i^äxjfel value o£-Ö -te- ’«-TO" s*feri)/iii £:ne ioc^’.^iii^ -Figure 5 --Concentric System antenna, patterns (H-plane) :R;EFLE:G:TQR

Non-fragile observer-based output feedback control for polytopic uncertain system under distributed model predictive control approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Kaiqun; Song, Yan; Zhang, Sunjie; Zhong, Zhaozhun

2017-07-01

In this paper, a non-fragile observer-based output feedback control problem for the polytopic uncertain system under distributed model predictive control (MPC) approach is discussed. By decomposing the global system into some subsystems, the computation complexity is reduced, so it follows that the online designing time can be saved.Moreover, an observer-based output feedback control algorithm is proposed in the framework of distributed MPC to deal with the difficulties in obtaining the states measurements. In this way, the presented observer-based output-feedback MPC strategy is more flexible and applicable in practice than the traditional state-feedback one. What is more, the non-fragility of the controller has been taken into consideration in favour of increasing the robustness of the polytopic uncertain system. After that, a sufficient stability criterion is presented by using Lyapunov-like functional approach, meanwhile, the corresponding control law and the upper bound of the quadratic cost function are derived by solving an optimisation subject to convex constraints. Finally, some simulation examples are employed to show the effectiveness of the method.

Tuning fuzzy PD and PI controllers using reinforcement learning.

PubMed

Boubertakh, Hamid; Tadjine, Mohamed; Glorennec, Pierre-Yves; Labiod, Salim

2010-10-01

In this paper, we propose a new auto-tuning fuzzy PD and PI controllers using reinforcement Q-learning (QL) algorithm for SISO (single-input single-output) and TITO (two-input two-output) systems. We first, investigate the design parameters and settings of a typical class of Fuzzy PD (FPD) and Fuzzy PI (FPI) controllers: zero-order Takagi-Sugeno controllers with equidistant triangular membership functions for inputs, equidistant singleton membership functions for output, Larsen's implication method, and average sum defuzzification method. Secondly, the analytical structures of these typical fuzzy PD and PI controllers are compared to their classical counterpart PD and PI controllers. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is proven through simulation examples. Copyright © 2010 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design of laser diode driver with constant current and temperature control system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ming-cai; Yang, Kai-yong; Wang, Zhi-guo; Fan, Zhen-fang

2017-10-01

A laser Diode (LD) driver with constant current and temperature control system is designed according to the LD working characteristics. We deeply researched the protection circuit and temperature control circuit based on thermos-electric cooler(TEC) cooling circuit and PID algorithm. The driver could realize constant current output and achieve stable temperature control of LD. Real-time feedback control method was adopted in the temperature control system to make LD work on its best temperature point. The output power variety and output wavelength shift of LD caused by current and temperature instability were decreased. Furthermore, the driving current and working temperature is adjustable according to specific requirements. The experiment result showed that the developed LD driver meets the characteristics of LD.

Robust output tracking control of a laboratory helicopter for automatic landing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hao; Lu, Geng; Zhong, Yisheng

2014-11-01

In this paper, robust output tracking control problem of a laboratory helicopter for automatic landing in high seas is investigated. The motion of the helicopter is required to synchronise with that of an oscillating platform, e.g. the deck of a vessel subject to wave-induced motions. A robust linear time-invariant output feedback controller consisting of a nominal controller and a robust compensator is designed. The robust compensator is introduced to restrain the influences of parametric uncertainties, nonlinearities and external disturbances. It is shown that robust stability and robust tracking property can be achieved simultaneously. Experimental results on the laboratory helicopter for automatic landing demonstrate the effectiveness of the designed control approach.

Apparatus for Controlling Low Power Voltages in Space Based Processing Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petrick, David J. (Inventor)

2017-01-01

A low power voltage control circuit for use in space missions includes a switching device coupled between an input voltage and an output voltage. The switching device includes a control input coupled to an enable signal, wherein the control input is configured to selectively turn the output voltage on or off based at least in part on the enable signal. A current monitoring circuit is coupled to the output voltage and configured to produce a trip signal, wherein the trip signal is active when a load current flowing through the switching device is determined to exceed a predetermined threshold and is inactive otherwise. The power voltage control circuit is constructed of space qualified components.

Electron tunneling infrared sensor module with integrated control circuitry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyadzhyan-Sevak, Vardkes V. (Inventor)

2001-01-01

In an integrated electron tunneling sensor, an automatic tunneling control circuit varies a high voltage bias applied to the sensor deflection electrode in response to changes in sensor output to maintain the proper gap between the sensor tip and membrane. The control circuit ensures stable tunneling activity in the presence of large signals and other disturbances to the sensor. Output signals from the module may be derived from the amplified sensor output. The integrated sensor module is particularly well adapted for use in blood glucose measurement and monitoring system.

Isolation contactor state control system

DOEpatents

Bissontz, Jay E.

2017-05-16

A controller area network (CAN) installed on a hybrid electric vehicle provides one node with control of high voltage power distribution system isolation contactors and the capacity to energize a secondary electro-mechanical relay device. The output of the secondary relay provides a redundant and persistent backup signal to the output of the node. The secondary relay is relatively immune to CAN message traffic interruptions and, as a result, the high voltage isolation contactor(s) are less likely to transition open in the event that the intelligent output driver should fail.

A Large Scale Computer Terminal Output Controller.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tucker, Paul Thomas

This paper describes the design and implementation of a large scale computer terminal output controller which supervises the transfer of information from a Control Data 6400 Computer to a PLATO IV data network. It discusses the cost considerations leading to the selection of educational television channels rather than telephone lines for…

A time-domain digitally controlled oscillator composed of a free running ring oscillator and flying-adder

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Liu; Wei, Li; Peng, Ren; Qinglong, Lin; Shengdong, Zhang; Yangyuan, Wang

2009-09-01

A time-domain digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) is proposed. The DCO is composed of a free-running ring oscillator (FRO) and a two lap-selectors integrated flying-adder (FA). With a coiled cell array which allows uniform loading capacitances of the delay cells, the FRO produces 32 outputs with consistent tap spacing for the FA as reference clocks. The FA uses the outputs from the FRO to generate the output of the DCO according to the control number, resulting in a linear dependence of the output period, instead of the frequency on the digital controlling word input. Thus the proposed DCO ensures a good conversion linearity in a time-domain, and is suitable for time-domain all-digital phase locked loop applications. The DCO was implemented in a standard 0.13 μm digital logic CMOS process. The measurement results show that the DCO has a linear and monotonic tuning curve with gain variation of less than 10%, and a very low root mean square period jitter of 9.3 ps in the output clocks. The DCO works well at supply voltages ranging from 0.6 to 1.2 V, and consumes 4 mW of power with 500 MHz frequency output at 1.2 V supply voltage.

Elastic actuator for precise force control

DOEpatents

Pratt, G.A.; Williamson, M.M.

1997-07-22

The invention provides an elastic actuator consisting of a motor and a motor drive transmission connected at an output of the motor. An elastic element is connected in series with the motor drive transmission, and this elastic element is positioned to alone support the full weight of any load connected at an output of the actuator. A single force transducer is positioned at a point between a mount for the motor and an output of the actuator. This force transducer generates a force signal, based on deflection of the elastic element, that indicates force applied by the elastic element to an output of the actuator. An active feedback force control loop is connected between the force transducer and the motor for controlling the motor. This motor control is based on the force signal to deflect the elastic element an amount that produces a desired actuator output force. The produced output force is substantially independent of load motion. The invention also provides a torsional spring consisting of a flexible structure having at least three flat sections each connected integrally with and extending radially from a central section. Each flat section extends axially along the central section from a distal end of the central section to a proximal end of the central section. 30 figs.

Elastic actuator for precise force control

DOEpatents

Pratt, Gill A.; Williamson, Matthew M.

1997-07-22

The invention provides an elastic actuator consisting of a motor and a motor drive transmission connected at an output of the motor. An elastic element is connected in series with the motor drive transmission, and this elastic element is positioned to alone support the full weight of any load connected at an output of the actuator. A single force transducer is positioned at a point between a mount for the motor and an output of the actuator. This force transducer generates a force signal, based on deflection of the elastic element, that indicates force applied by the elastic element to an output of the actuator. An active feedback force control loop is connected between the force transducer and the motor for controlling the motor. This motor control is based on the force signal to deflect the elastic element an amount that produces a desired actuator output force. The produced output force is substantially independent of load motion. The invention also provides a torsional spring consisting of a flexible structure having at least three flat sections each connected integrally with and extending radially from a central section. Each flat section extends axially along the central section from a distal end of the central section to a proximal end of the central section.

Control design for a wind turbine-generator using output feedback

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Javid, S. H.; Murdoch, A.; Winkelman, J. R.

1981-01-01

The modeling and approach to control design for a large horizontal axis wind turbine (WT) generator are presented. The control design is based on a suboptimal output regulator which allows coordinated control of WT blade pitch angle and field voltage for the purposes of regulating electrical power and terminal voltage. Results of detailed non-linear simulation tests of this controller are shown.

Control design for a wind turbine-generator using output feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Javid, S. H.; Murdoch, A.; Winkelman, J. R.

The modeling and approach to control design for a large horizontal axis wind turbine (WT) generator are presented. The control design is based on a suboptimal output regulator which allows coordinated control of WT blade pitch angle and field voltage for the purposes of regulating electrical power and terminal voltage. Results of detailed non-linear simulation tests of this controller are shown.

Design of vaccination and fumigation on Host-Vector Model by input-output linearization method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nugraha, Edwin Setiawan; Naiborhu, Janson; Nuraini, Nuning

2017-03-01

Here, we analyze the Host-Vector Model and proposed design of vaccination and fumigation to control infectious population by using feedback control especially input-output liniearization method. Host population is divided into three compartments: susceptible, infectious and recovery. Whereas the vector population is divided into two compartment such as susceptible and infectious. In this system, vaccination and fumigation treat as input factors and infectious population as output result. The objective of design is to stabilize of the output asymptotically tend to zero. We also present the examples to illustrate the design model.

Event-triggered output feedback control for distributed networked systems.

PubMed

Mahmoud, Magdi S; Sabih, Muhammad; Elshafei, Moustafa

2016-01-01

This paper addresses the problem of output-feedback communication and control with event-triggered framework in the context of distributed networked control systems. The design problem of the event-triggered output-feedback control is proposed as a linear matrix inequality (LMI) feasibility problem. The scheme is developed for the distributed system where only partial states are available. In this scheme, a subsystem uses local observers and share its information to its neighbors only when the subsystem's local error exceeds a specified threshold. The developed method is illustrated by using a coupled cart example from the literature. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improved methods in neural network-based adaptive output feedback control, with applications to flight control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Nakwan

Utilizing the universal approximation property of neural networks, we develop several novel approaches to neural network-based adaptive output feedback control of nonlinear systems, and illustrate these approaches for several flight control applications. In particular, we address the problem of non-affine systems and eliminate the fixed point assumption present in earlier work. All of the stability proofs are carried out in a form that eliminates an algebraic loop in the neural network implementation. An approximate input/output feedback linearizing controller is augmented with a neural network using input/output sequences of the uncertain system. These approaches permit adaptation to both parametric uncertainty and unmodeled dynamics. All physical systems also have control position and rate limits, which may either deteriorate performance or cause instability for a sufficiently high control bandwidth. Here we apply a method for protecting an adaptive process from the effects of input saturation and time delays, known as "pseudo control hedging". This method was originally developed for the state feedback case, and we provide a stability analysis that extends its domain of applicability to the case of output feedback. The approach is illustrated by the design of a pitch-attitude flight control system for a linearized model of an R-50 experimental helicopter, and by the design of a pitch-rate control system for a 58-state model of a flexible aircraft consisting of rigid body dynamics coupled with actuator and flexible modes. A new approach to augmentation of an existing linear controller is introduced. It is especially useful when there is limited information concerning the plant model, and the existing controller. The approach is applied to the design of an adaptive autopilot for a guided munition. Design of a neural network adaptive control that ensures asymptotically stable tracking performance is also addressed.

Noniterative computation of infimum in H(infinity) optimisation for plants with invariant zeros on the j(omega)-axis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chen, B. M.; Saber, A.

1993-01-01

A simple and noniterative procedure for the computation of the exact value of the infimum in the singular H(infinity)-optimization problem is presented, as a continuation of our earlier work. Our problem formulation is general and we do not place any restrictions in the finite and infinite zero structures of the system, and the direct feedthrough terms between the control input and the controlled output variables and between the disturbance input and the measurement output variables. Our method is applicable to a class of singular H(infinity)-optimization problems for which the transfer functions from the control input to the controlled output and from the disturbance input to the measurement output satisfy certain geometric conditions. In particular, the paper extends the result of earlier work by allowing these two transfer functions to have invariant zeros on the j(omega) axis.

Adaptive neural control for dual-arm coordination of humanoid robot with unknown nonlinearities in output mechanism.

PubMed

Liu, Zhi; Chen, Ci; Zhang, Yun; Chen, C L P

2015-03-01

To achieve an excellent dual-arm coordination of the humanoid robot, it is essential to deal with the nonlinearities existing in the system dynamics. The literatures so far on the humanoid robot control have a common assumption that the problem of output hysteresis could be ignored. However, in the practical applications, the output hysteresis is widely spread; and its existing limits the motion/force performances of the robotic system. In this paper, an adaptive neural control scheme, which takes the unknown output hysteresis and computational efficiency into account, is presented and investigated. In the controller design, the prior knowledge of system dynamics is assumed to be unknown. The motion error is guaranteed to converge to a small neighborhood of the origin by Lyapunov's stability theory. Simultaneously, the internal force is kept bounded and its error can be made arbitrarily small.

Adaptive Fuzzy Output-Constrained Fault-Tolerant Control of Nonlinear Stochastic Large-Scale Systems With Actuator Faults.

PubMed

Li, Yongming; Ma, Zhiyao; Tong, Shaocheng

2017-09-01

The problem of adaptive fuzzy output-constrained tracking fault-tolerant control (FTC) is investigated for the large-scale stochastic nonlinear systems of pure-feedback form. The nonlinear systems considered in this paper possess the unstructured uncertainties, unknown interconnected terms and unknown nonaffine nonlinear faults. The fuzzy logic systems are employed to identify the unknown lumped nonlinear functions so that the problems of structured uncertainties can be solved. An adaptive fuzzy state observer is designed to solve the nonmeasurable state problem. By combining the barrier Lyapunov function theory, adaptive decentralized and stochastic control principles, a novel fuzzy adaptive output-constrained FTC approach is constructed. All the signals in the closed-loop system are proved to be bounded in probability and the system outputs are constrained in a given compact set. Finally, the applicability of the proposed controller is well carried out by a simulation example.

Adaptive output feedback control of uncertain nonlinear systems using single-hidden-layer neural networks.

PubMed

Hovakimyan, N; Nardi, F; Calise, A; Kim, Nakwan

2002-01-01

We consider adaptive output feedback control of uncertain nonlinear systems, in which both the dynamics and the dimension of the regulated system may be unknown. However, the relative degree of the regulated output is assumed to be known. Given a smooth reference trajectory, the problem is to design a controller that forces the system measurement to track it with bounded errors. The classical approach requires a state observer. Finding a good observer for an uncertain nonlinear system is not an obvious task. We argue that it is sufficient to build an observer for the output tracking error. Ultimate boundedness of the error signals is shown through Lyapunov's direct method. The theoretical results are illustrated in the design of a controller for a fourth-order nonlinear system of relative degree two and a high-bandwidth attitude command system for a model R-50 helicopter.

Prognostic health monitoring in switch-mode power supplies with voltage regulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hofmeister, James P (Inventor); Judkins, Justin B (Inventor)

2009-01-01

The system includes a current injection device in electrical communication with the switch mode power supply. The current injection device is positioned to alter the initial, non-zero load current when activated. A prognostic control is in communication with the current injection device, controlling activation of the current injection device. A frequency detector is positioned to receive an output signal from the switch mode power supply and is able to count cycles in a sinusoidal wave within the output signal. An output device is in communication with the frequency detector. The output device outputs a result of the counted cycles, which are indicative of damage to an a remaining useful life of the switch mode power supply.

Quantum theory of multiple-input-multiple-output Markovian feedback with diffusive measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chia, A.; Wiseman, H. M.

2011-07-15

Feedback control engineers have been interested in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) extensions of single-input-single-output (SISO) results of various kinds due to its rich mathematical structure and practical applications. An outstanding problem in quantum feedback control is the extension of the SISO theory of Markovian feedback by Wiseman and Milburn [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 548 (1993)] to multiple inputs and multiple outputs. Here we generalize the SISO homodyne-mediated feedback theory to allow for multiple inputs, multiple outputs, and arbitrary diffusive quantum measurements. We thus obtain a MIMO framework which resembles the SISO theory and whose additional mathematical structure is highlighted by the extensivemore » use of vector-operator algebra.« less

Nandrolone excretion is not increased by exhaustive exercise in trained athletes.

PubMed

Schmitt, Nelly; Flament, Marie-Madeleine; Goubault, Claude; Legros, Patrick; Grenier-Loustalot, Marie France; Denjean, André

2002-09-01

The anabolic steroid nandrolone is widely used as a performance enhancer. Traces of its naturally occurring metabolite 19-norandrosterone (19-NA) have been found in human urine (below 0.6 ng.mL(-1)), and it has been suggested that strenuous exercise may increase urinary 19-NA. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of exhaustive exercise on the nandrolone excretion under controlled conditions in two groups of trained male athletes, one composed of judoka and the other of long-distance runners. A Wingate test and a treadmill limited-time test (running at 85% (.)VO(2max)) were carried out on 14 judoka and 15 athletes. Hydration was controlled during each session. Urine samples were obtained before each test and 30 min, 60 min, and 24 h after each test. Urinary 19-NA concentrations were determined using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Baseline urinary 19-NA concentrations varied widely across individuals, from undetectable levels to 0.250 ng.mL (-1)(mean, 0.048 +/- 0.050 ng.mL(-1)). The both exercise tests did not significantly modified urinary 19-NA levels in the two groups of subjects. Our study provides compelling evidence that endogenous nandrolone production in male athletes, during two very different types of exercise, produces urine levels far below the IOC threshold of 2 ng.mL(-1) urine. Thus, exercise does not induce endogenous nandrolone secretion.

Control Systems with Pulse Width Modulation in Matrix Converters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bondarev, A. V.; Fedorov, S. V.; Muravyova, E. A.

2018-03-01

In this article, the matrix frequency converter for the system of the frequency control of the electric drive is considered. Algorithms of formation of an output signal on the basis of pulse width modulation were developed for the quantitative analysis of quality of an output signal on the basis of mathematical models. On the basis of simulation models of an output signal, assessment of quality of this signal was carried out. The analysis of harmonic composition of the voltage output received on the basis of pulse width modulation was made for the purpose of determination of opportunities of the control system for improving harmonic composition. The result of such analysis led to the fact that the device formation of switching functions of the control system on the basis of PWM does not lead to a distortion reduction of a harmonic of the control signal, and leads to offset of harmonic in the field of frequencies, the multiple relatively carrier frequency.

Robust ADP Design for Continuous-Time Nonlinear Systems With Output Constraints.

PubMed

Fan, Bo; Yang, Qinmin; Tang, Xiaoyu; Sun, Youxian

2018-06-01

In this paper, a novel robust adaptive dynamic programming (RADP)-based control strategy is presented for the optimal control of a class of output-constrained continuous-time unknown nonlinear systems. Our contribution includes a step forward beyond the usual optimal control result to show that the output of the plant is always within user-defined bounds. To achieve the new results, an error transformation technique is first established to generate an equivalent nonlinear system, whose asymptotic stability guarantees both the asymptotic stability and the satisfaction of the output restriction of the original system. Furthermore, RADP algorithms are developed to solve the transformed nonlinear optimal control problem with completely unknown dynamics as well as a robust design to guarantee the stability of the closed-loop systems in the presence of unavailable internal dynamic state. Via small-gain theorem, asymptotic stability of the original and transformed nonlinear system is theoretically guaranteed. Finally, comparison results demonstrate the merits of the proposed control policy.

Variable Frequency Diverter Actuation for Flow Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Culley, Dennis E.

2006-01-01

The design and development of an actively controlled fluidic actuator for flow control applications is explored. The basic device, with one input and two output channels, takes advantage of the Coanda effect to force a fluid jet to adhere to one of two axi-symmetric surfaces. The resultant flow is bi-stable, producing a constant flow from one output channel, until a disturbance force applied at the control point causes the flow to switch to the alternate output channel. By properly applying active control the output flows can be manipulated to provide a high degree of modulation over a wide and variable range of frequency and duty cycle. In this study the momentary operative force is applied by small, high speed isolation valves of which several different types are examined. The active fluidic diverter actuator is shown to work in several configurations including that in which the operator valves are referenced to atmosphere as well as to a source common with the power stream.

Dynamics of nonlinear feedback control.

PubMed

Snippe, H P; van Hateren, J H

2007-05-01

Feedback control in neural systems is ubiquitous. Here we study the mathematics of nonlinear feedback control. We compare models in which the input is multiplied by a dynamic gain (multiplicative control) with models in which the input is divided by a dynamic attenuation (divisive control). The gain signal (resp. the attenuation signal) is obtained through a concatenation of an instantaneous nonlinearity and a linear low-pass filter operating on the output of the feedback loop. For input steps, the dynamics of gain and attenuation can be very different, depending on the mathematical form of the nonlinearity and the ordering of the nonlinearity and the filtering in the feedback loop. Further, the dynamics of feedback control can be strongly asymmetrical for increment versus decrement steps of the input. Nevertheless, for each of the models studied, the nonlinearity in the feedback loop can be chosen such that immediately after an input step, the dynamics of feedback control is symmetric with respect to increments versus decrements. Finally, we study the dynamics of the output of the control loops and find conditions under which overshoots and undershoots of the output relative to the steady-state output occur when the models are stimulated with low-pass filtered steps. For small steps at the input, overshoots and undershoots of the output do not occur when the filtering in the control path is faster than the low-pass filtering at the input. For large steps at the input, however, results depend on the model, and for some of the models, multiple overshoots and undershoots can occur even with a fast control path.

Lumbar extensor muscle force control is associated with disability in people with chronic low back pain.

PubMed

Pranata, Adrian; Perraton, Luke; El-Ansary, Doa; Clark, Ross; Fortin, Karine; Dettmann, Tim; Brandham, Robert; Bryant, Adam

2017-07-01

The ability to control lumbar extensor force output is necessary for daily activities. However, it is unknown whether this ability is impaired in chronic low back pain patients. Similarly, it is unknown whether lumbar extensor force control is related to the disability levels of chronic low back pain patients. Thirty-three chronic low back pain and 20 healthy people performed lumbar extension force-matching task where they increased and decreased their force output to match a variable target force within 20%-50% maximal voluntary isometric contraction. Force control was quantified as the root-mean-square-error between participants' force output and target force across the entire, during the increasing and decreasing portions of the force curve. Within- and between-group differences in force-matching error and the relationship between back pain group's force-matching results and their Oswestry Disability Index scores were assessed using ANCOVA and linear regression respectively. Back pain group demonstrated more overall force-matching error (mean difference=1.60 [0.78, 2.43], P<0.01) and more force-matching error while increasing force output (mean difference=2.19 [1.01, 3.37], P<0.01) than control group. The back pain group demonstrated more force-matching error while increasing than decreasing force output (mean difference=1.74, P<0.001, 95%CI [0.87, 2.61]). A unit increase in force-matching error while decreasing force output is associated with a 47% increase in Oswestry score in back pain group (R 2 =0.19, P=0.006). Lumbar extensor muscle force control is compromised in chronic low back pain patients. Force-matching error predicts disability, confirming the validity of our force control protocol for chronic low back pain patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Process, practice and priorities — key lessons learnt undertaking sensitive social reconnaissance research as part of an (UNESCO-IOC) International Tsunami Survey Team

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Zijll de Jong, Shona L.; Dominey-Howes, Dale; Roman, Carolina E.; Calgaro, Emma; Gero, Anna; Veland, Siri; Bird, Deanne K.; Muliaina, Tolu; Tuiloma-Sua, Dawn; Afioga, Taulagi Latu

2011-07-01

The 29 September 2009 South Pacific tsunami has had a lasting impact upon local coastal villages and global collaborative research efforts. Locally, the impact of the tsunami is one of the most severe disasters Samoa has experienced in the last several decades. Within one week of the event, 143 people died. Approximately 6000 traumatized men, women and children - terrified of the sea - refused to return to live or work in their rural, coastal villages, which in turn has had broad consequences for humanitarian emergency relief distribution networks and early recovery planning efforts. Researchers came from all over the world to participate in the UNESCO International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Samoa International Tsunami Survey Team (ITST). Focusing on the need for interdisciplinary research, for the first time, a social impact assessment team (SIT) was expressly invited to participate. Within days of the tsunami, a group of Australian, New Zealand, American, Fijian, and Japanese disaster researchers began to discuss how they might develop a social science reconnaissance research plan using innovative approaches and best practice. This paper presents an overview of challenges faced by the social impact assessment team with a focus on lessons to be learnt from this experience. We discuss the need to clarify project boundaries, develop a core research agenda and project milestones, and develop day-to-day fieldwork work plans and at the same time be sensitive to the emotional needs of the interviewees as well as the researchers. We also make several practical suggestions for future social reconnaissance research with a set of recommendations to support disaster researchers as they plan their own research projects. The inclusion of a social impacts assessment group within a UNESCO-IOC ITST was a valuable response to the increasing need for responsible social research in sensitive topics of post-disaster analysis. Social scientists are aware that disaster social science research should not be a risk to the public, and that misconduct in such work should be avoided as far as possible. We believe that the inclusion of social science experts will revolutionise conceptual, methodological and empirical approaches in future ITSTs. Social scientists will provide unprecedented volumes of high quality information on post-disaster movements, communication and response activities by individuals, communities, private and public sectors — because social scientists are concerned about the integrity of the research process and results. Building upon our experiences, future ITSTs may tap into the potential that social science has to transform ITST's capacity to gather information about disaster preparedness, what tsunami survivors saw, heard and experienced, and to reconstruct the socio-economic and political dynamics of affected communities. This paper contributes to the limited literature that outlines how to develop responsible plans and processes for post-tsunami disaster work; and, it furthers a line of inquiry applicable to a wide variety of hazards, such as flooding, cyclones, earthquakes, bushfires, pandemics and terrorism.

Output Feedback Adaptive Control of Non-Minimum Phase Systems Using Optimal Control Modification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Nhan; Hashemi, Kelley E.; Yucelen, Tansel; Arabi, Ehsan

2018-01-01

This paper describes output feedback adaptive control approaches for non-minimum phase SISO systems with relative degree 1 and non-strictly positive real (SPR) MIMO systems with uniform relative degree 1 using the optimal control modification method. It is well-known that the standard model-reference adaptive control (MRAC) cannot be used to control non-SPR plants to track an ideal SPR reference model. Due to the ideal property of asymptotic tracking, MRAC attempts an unstable pole-zero cancellation which results in unbounded signals for non-minimum phase SISO systems. The optimal control modification can be used to prevent the unstable pole-zero cancellation which results in a stable adaptation of non-minimum phase SISO systems. However, the tracking performance using this approach could suffer if the unstable zero is located far away from the imaginary axis. The tracking performance can be recovered by using an observer-based output feedback adaptive control approach which uses a Luenberger observer design to estimate the state information of the plant. Instead of explicitly specifying an ideal SPR reference model, the reference model is established from the linear quadratic optimal control to account for the non-minimum phase behavior of the plant. With this non-minimum phase reference model, the observer-based output feedback adaptive control can maintain stability as well as tracking performance. However, in the presence of the mismatch between the SPR reference model and the non-minimum phase plant, the standard MRAC results in unbounded signals, whereas a stable adaptation can be achieved with the optimal control modification. An application of output feedback adaptive control for a flexible wing aircraft illustrates the approaches.

Constant voltage and constant current control implementation for electric vehicles (evs) wireless charger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tampubolon, Marojahan; Pamungkas, Laskar; Hsieh, Yao Ching; Chiu, Huang Jen

2018-04-01

This paper presents the implementation of Constant Voltage (CV) and Constant Current (CC) control for a wireless charger system. A battery charging system needs these control modes to ensure the safety of the battery and the effectiveness of the charging system. Here, the wireless charger system does not employ any post-regulator stage to control the output voltage and output current of the charger. But, it uses a variable frequency control incorporated with a conventional PI control. As a result, the size and the weight of the system are reduced. This paper discusses the brief review of the SS-WPT, control strategy and implementation of the CV and CC control. Experimental hardware with 2kW output power has been performed and tested. The results show that the proposed CV and CC control method works well with the system.

Cooperative learning neural network output feedback control of uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems under directed topologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, W.; Wang, D.; Peng, Z. H.

2017-09-01

Without assuming that the communication topologies among the neural network (NN) weights are to be undirected and the states of each agent are measurable, the cooperative learning NN output feedback control is addressed for uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems with identical structures in strict-feedback form. By establishing directed communication topologies among NN weights to share their learned knowledge, NNs with cooperative learning laws are employed to identify the uncertainties. By designing NN-based κ-filter observers to estimate the unmeasurable states, a new cooperative learning output feedback control scheme is proposed to guarantee that the system outputs can track nonidentical reference signals with bounded tracking errors. A simulation example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Assessment of input-output properties and control of neuroprosthetic hand grasp.

PubMed

Hines, A E; Owens, N E; Crago, P E

1992-06-01

Three tests have been developed to evaluate rapidly and quantitatively the input-output properties and patient control of neuroprosthetic hand grasp. Each test utilizes a visual pursuit tracking task during which the subject controls the grasp force and grasp opening (position) of the hand. The first test characterizes the static input-output properties of the hand grasp, where the input is a slowly changing patient generated command signal and the outputs are grasp force and grasp opening. Nonlinearities and inappropriate slopes have been documented in these relationships, and in some instances the need for system returning has been indicated. For each subject larger grasp forces were produced when grasping larger objects, and for some subjects the shapes of the relationships also varied with object size. The second test quantifies the ability of the subject to control the hand grasp outputs while tracking steps and ramps. Neuroprosthesis users had rms errors two to three times larger when tracking steps versus ramps, and had rms errors four to five times larger than normals when tracking ramps. The third test provides an estimate of the frequency response of the hand grasp system dynamics, from input and output data collected during a random tracking task. Transfer functions were estimated by spectral analysis after removal of the static input-output nonlinearities measured in the first test. The dynamics had low-pass filter characteristics with 3 dB cutoff frequencies from 1.0 to 1.4 Hz. The tests developed in this study provide a rapid evaluation of both the system and the user. They provide information to 1) help interpret subject performance of functional tasks, 2) evaluate the efficacy of system features such as closed-loop control, and 3) screen the neuroprosthesis to indicate the need for retuning.

Optimal Output Trajectory Redesign for Invertible Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Devasia, S.

1996-01-01

Given a desired output trajectory, inversion-based techniques find input-state trajectories required to exactly track the output. These inversion-based techniques have been successfully applied to the endpoint tracking control of multijoint flexible manipulators and to aircraft control. The specified output trajectory uniquely determines the required input and state trajectories that are found through inversion. These input-state trajectories exactly track the desired output; however, they might not meet acceptable performance requirements. For example, during slewing maneuvers of flexible structures, the structural deformations, which depend on the required state trajectories, may be unacceptably large. Further, the required inputs might cause actuator saturation during an exact tracking maneuver, for example, in the flight control of conventional takeoff and landing aircraft. In such situations, a compromise is desired between the tracking requirement and other goals such as reduction of internal vibrations and prevention of actuator saturation; the desired output trajectory needs to redesigned. Here, we pose the trajectory redesign problem as an optimization of a general quadratic cost function and solve it in the context of linear systems. The solution is obtained as an off-line prefilter of the desired output trajectory. An advantage of our technique is that the prefilter is independent of the particular trajectory. The prefilter can therefore be precomputed, which is a major advantage over other optimization approaches. Previous works have addressed the issue of preshaping inputs to minimize residual and in-maneuver vibrations for flexible structures; Since the command preshaping is computed off-line. Further minimization of optimal quadratic cost functions has also been previously use to preshape command inputs for disturbance rejection. All of these approaches are applicable when the inputs to the system are known a priori. Typically, outputs (not inputs) are specified in tracking problems, and hence the input trajectories have to be computed. The inputs to the system are however, difficult to determine for non-minimum phase systems like flexible structures. One approach to solve this problem is to (1) choose a tracking controller (the desired output trajectory is now an input to the closed-loop system and (2) redesign this input to the closed-loop system. Thus we effectively perform output redesign. These redesigns are however, dependent on the choice of the tracking controllers. Thus the controller optimization and trajectory redesign problems become coupled; this coupled optimization is still an open problem. In contrast, we decouple the trajectory redesign problem from the choice of feedback-based tracking controller. It is noted that our approach remains valid when a particular tracking controller is chosen. In addition, the formulation of our problem not only allows for the minimization of residual vibration as in available techniques but also allows for the optimal reduction fo vibrations during the maneuver, e.g., the altitude control of flexible spacecraft. We begin by formulating the optimal output trajectory redesign problem and then solve it in the context of general linear systems. This theory is then applied to an example flexible structure, and simulation results are provided.

Voltage control in Z-source inverter using low cost microcontroller for undergraduate approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zulkifli, Shamsul Aizam; Sewang, Mohd Rizal; Salimin, Suriana; Shah, Noor Mazliza Badrul

2017-09-01

This paper is focussing on controlling the output voltage of Z-Source Inverter (ZSI) using a low cost microcontroller with MATLAB-Simulink that has been used for interfacing the voltage control at the output of ZSI. The key advantage of this system is the ability of a low cost microcontroller to process the voltage control blocks based on the mathematical equations created in MATLAB-Simulink. The Proportional Integral (PI) control equations are been applied and then, been downloaded to the microcontroller for observing the changes on the voltage output regarding to the changes on the reference on the PI. The system has been simulated in MATLAB and been verified with the hardware setup. As the results, the Raspberry Pi and Arduino that have been used in this work are able to respond well when there is a change of ZSI output. It proofed that, by applying/introducing this method to student in undergraduate level, it will help the student to understand more on the process of the power converter combine with a control feedback function that can be applied at low cost microcontroller.

Observer-based higher order sliding mode control of power factor in three-phase AC/DC converter for hybrid electric vehicle applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jianxing; Laghrouche, Salah; Wack, Maxime

2014-06-01

In this paper, a full-bridge boost power converter topology is studied for power factor control, using output higher order sliding mode control. The AC/DC converters are used for charging the battery and super-capacitor in hybrid electric vehicles from the utility. The proposed control forces the input currents to track the desired values, which can control the output voltage while keeping the power factor close to one. Super-twisting sliding mode observer is employed to estimate the input currents and load resistance only from the measurement of output voltage. Lyapunov analysis shows the asymptotic convergence of the closed-loop system to zero. Multi-rate simulation illustrates the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controller in the presence of measurement noise.

A Microcomputer Based Aircraft Flight Control System.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-04-01

time control of an aircraft using a microcomputer system . The applicability of two optimal control 5 1 theories--singular perturbation theory and output...increased controller execution time if implemented in software. This may be unavoidable if the plant is not stabilizable without feedback from such...From the real- time testing of the controller designs, it is seen that when dealing with systems possessing a two- time -scale property, output * * 61 K

Reachable set estimation for Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems against unknown output delays with application to tracking control of AUVs.

PubMed

Zhong, Zhixiong; Zhu, Yanzheng; Ahn, Choon Ki

2018-07-01

In this paper, we address the problem of reachable set estimation for continuous-time Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy systems subject to unknown output delays. Based on the reachable set concept, a new controller design method is also discussed for such systems. An effective method is developed to attenuate the negative impact from the unknown output delays, which likely degrade the performance/stability of systems. First, an augmented fuzzy observer is proposed to capacitate a synchronous estimation for the system state and the disturbance term owing to the unknown output delays, which ensures that the reachable set of the estimation error is limited via the intersection operation of ellipsoids. Then, a compensation technique is employed to eliminate the influence on the system performance stemmed from the unknown output delays. Finally, the effectiveness and correctness of the obtained theories are verified by the tracking control of autonomous underwater vehicles. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Robust H∞ output-feedback control for path following of autonomous ground vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Chuan; Jing, Hui; Wang, Rongrong; Yan, Fengjun; Chadli, Mohammed

2016-03-01

This paper presents a robust H∞ output-feedback control strategy for the path following of autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs). Considering the vehicle lateral velocity is usually hard to measure with low cost sensor, a robust H∞ static output-feedback controller based on the mixed genetic algorithms (GA)/linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach is proposed to realize the path following without the information of the lateral velocity. The proposed controller is robust to the parametric uncertainties and external disturbances, with the parameters including the tire cornering stiffness, vehicle longitudinal velocity, yaw rate and road curvature. Simulation results based on CarSim-Simulink joint platform using a high-fidelity and full-car model have verified the effectiveness of the proposed control approach.

Decentralised output feedback control of Markovian jump interconnected systems with unknown interconnections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Li-Wei; Yang, Guang-Hong

2017-07-01

The problem of decentralised output feedback control is addressed for Markovian jump interconnected systems with unknown interconnections and general transition rates (TRs) allowed to be unknown or known with uncertainties. A class of decentralised dynamic output feedback controllers are constructed, and a cyclic-small-gain condition is exploited to dispose the unknown interconnections so that the resultant closed-loop system is stochastically stable and satisfies an H∞ performance. With slack matrices to cope with the nonlinearities incurred by unknown and uncertain TRs in control synthesis, a novel controller design condition is developed in linear matrix inequality formalism. Compared with the existing works, the proposed approach leads to less conservatism. Finally, two examples are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the new results.

Adaptive model predictive process control using neural networks

DOEpatents

Buescher, K.L.; Baum, C.C.; Jones, R.D.

1997-08-19

A control system for controlling the output of at least one plant process output parameter is implemented by adaptive model predictive control using a neural network. An improved method and apparatus provides for sampling plant output and control input at a first sampling rate to provide control inputs at the fast rate. The MPC system is, however, provided with a network state vector that is constructed at a second, slower rate so that the input control values used by the MPC system are averaged over a gapped time period. Another improvement is a provision for on-line training that may include difference training, curvature training, and basis center adjustment to maintain the weights and basis centers of the neural in an updated state that can follow changes in the plant operation apart from initial off-line training data. 46 figs.

Adaptive model predictive process control using neural networks

DOEpatents

Buescher, Kevin L.; Baum, Christopher C.; Jones, Roger D.

1997-01-01

A control system for controlling the output of at least one plant process output parameter is implemented by adaptive model predictive control using a neural network. An improved method and apparatus provides for sampling plant output and control input at a first sampling rate to provide control inputs at the fast rate. The MPC system is, however, provided with a network state vector that is constructed at a second, slower rate so that the input control values used by the MPC system are averaged over a gapped time period. Another improvement is a provision for on-line training that may include difference training, curvature training, and basis center adjustment to maintain the weights and basis centers of the neural in an updated state that can follow changes in the plant operation apart from initial off-line training data.

Realizable optimal control for a remotely piloted research vehicle. [stability augmentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunn, H. J.

1980-01-01

The design of a control system using the linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) control law theory for time invariant systems in conjunction with an incremental gradient procedure is presented. The incremental gradient technique reduces the full-state feedback controller design, generated by the LQR algorithm, to a realizable design. With a realizable controller, the feedback gains are based only on the available system outputs instead of being based on the full-state outputs. The design is for a remotely piloted research vehicle (RPRV) stability augmentation system. The design includes methods for accounting for noisy measurements, discrete controls with zero-order-hold outputs, and computational delay errors. Results from simulation studies of the response of the RPRV to a step in the elevator and frequency analysis techniques are included to illustrate these abnormalities and their influence on the controller design.

Multi-loop control of UPS inverter with a plug-in odd-harmonic repetitive controller.

PubMed

Razi, Reza; Karbasforooshan, Mohammad-Sadegh; Monfared, Mohammad

2017-03-01

This paper proposes an improved multi-loop control scheme for the single-phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS) inverter by using a plug-in odd-harmonic repetitive controller to regulate the output voltage. In the suggested control method, the output voltage and the filter capacitor current are used as the outer and inner loop feedback signals, respectively and the instantaneous value of the reference voltage feedforwarded to the output of the controller. Instead of conventional linear (proportional-integral/-resonant) and conventional repetitive controllers, a plug-in odd-harmonic repetitive controller is employed in the outer loop to regulate the output voltage, which occupies less memory space and offers faster tracking performance compared to the conventional one. Also, a simple proportional controller is used in the inner loop for active damping of possible resonances and improving the transient performance. The feedforward of the converter reference voltage enhances the robust performance of the system and simplifies the system modelling and the controller design. A step-by-step design procedure is presented for the proposed controller, which guarantees stability of the system under worst-case scenarios. Simulation and experimental results validate the excellent steady-state and transient performance of the proposed control scheme and provide the exact comparison of the proposed method with the conventional multi-loop control method. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

From enumeration districts to output areas: experiments in the automated creation of a census output geography.

PubMed

Martin, D

1997-01-01

This article briefly reviews the advantages of using separate geographies for census enumeration and output, and explains how a geographical information system is being used for the planning of enumeration districts for the 1997 Census Test. Experimental work is described which offers the potential to automatically create a new output geography, formed from aggregations of unit postcodes, and which offers control over output area population and boundaries.

Output levels of commercially available portable compact disc players and the potential risk to hearing.

PubMed

Fligor, Brian J; Cox, L Clarke

2004-12-01

To measure the sound levels generated by the headphones of commercially available portable compact disc players and provide hearing healthcare providers with safety guidelines based on a theoretical noise dose model. Using a Knowles Electronics Manikin for Acoustical Research and a personal computer, output levels across volume control settings were recorded from headphones driven by a standard signal (white noise) and compared with output levels from music samples of eight different genres. Many commercially available models from different manufacturers were investigated. Several different styles of headphones (insert, supra-aural, vertical, and circumaural) were used to determine if style of headphone influenced output level. Free-field equivalent sound pressure levels measured at maximum volume control setting ranged from 91 dBA to 121 dBA. Output levels varied across manufacturers and style of headphone, although generally the smaller the headphone, the higher the sound level for a given volume control setting. Specifically, in one manufacturer, insert earphones increased output level 7-9 dB, relative to the output from stock headphones included in the purchase of the CD player. In a few headphone-CD player combinations, peak sound pressure levels exceeded 130 dB SPL. Based on measured sound pressure levels across systems and the noise dose model recommended by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for protecting the occupational worker, a maximum permissible noise dose would typically be reached within 1 hr of listening with the volume control set to 70% of maximum gain using supra-aural headphones. Using headphones that resulted in boosting the output level (e.g., insert earphones used in this study) would significantly decrease the maximum safe volume control setting; this effect was unpredictable from one manufacturer to another. In the interest of providing a straightforward recommendation that should protect the hearing of the majority of consumers, reasonable guidelines would include a recommendation to limit headphone use to 1 hr or less per day if using supra-aural style headphones at a gain control setting of 60% of maximum.

Load controller and method to enhance effective capacity of a photovoltaic power supply using a dynamically determined expected peak loading

DOEpatents

Perez, Richard

2005-05-03

A load controller and method are provided for maximizing effective capacity of a non-controllable, renewable power supply coupled to a variable electrical load also coupled to a conventional power grid. Effective capacity is enhanced by monitoring power output of the renewable supply and loading, and comparing the loading against the power output and a load adjustment threshold determined from an expected peak loading. A value for a load adjustment parameter is calculated by subtracting the renewable supply output and the load adjustment parameter from the current load. This value is then employed to control the variable load in an amount proportional to the value of the load control parameter when the parameter is within a predefined range. By so controlling the load, the effective capacity of the non-controllable, renewable power supply is increased without any attempt at operational feedback control of the renewable supply.

Neural network-based optimal adaptive output feedback control of a helicopter UAV.

PubMed

Nodland, David; Zargarzadeh, Hassan; Jagannathan, Sarangapani

2013-07-01

Helicopter unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are widely used for both military and civilian operations. Because the helicopter UAVs are underactuated nonlinear mechanical systems, high-performance controller design for them presents a challenge. This paper introduces an optimal controller design via an output feedback for trajectory tracking of a helicopter UAV, using a neural network (NN). The output-feedback control system utilizes the backstepping methodology, employing kinematic and dynamic controllers and an NN observer. The online approximator-based dynamic controller learns the infinite-horizon Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation in continuous time and calculates the corresponding optimal control input by minimizing a cost function, forward-in-time, without using the value and policy iterations. Optimal tracking is accomplished by using a single NN utilized for the cost function approximation. The overall closed-loop system stability is demonstrated using Lyapunov analysis. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control design for trajectory tracking.

E-beam high voltage switching power supply

DOEpatents

Shimer, D.W.; Lange, A.C.

1996-10-15

A high-power power supply produces a controllable, constant high voltage output under varying and arcing loads. The power supply includes a voltage regulator, an inductor, an inverter for producing a high frequency square wave current of alternating polarity, an improved inverter voltage clamping circuit, a step up transformer, an output rectifier for producing a dc voltage at the output of each module, and a current sensor for sensing output current. The power supply also provides dynamic response to varying loads by controlling the voltage regulator duty cycle and circuitry is provided for sensing incipient arc currents at the output of the power supply to simultaneously decouple the power supply circuitry from the arcing load. The power supply includes a plurality of discrete switching type dc--dc converter modules. 5 figs.

Model reference adaptive control of flexible robots in the presence of sudden load changes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steinvorth, Rodrigo; Kaufman, Howard; Neat, Gregory

1991-01-01

Direct command generator tracker based model reference adaptive control (MRAC) algorithms are applied to the dynamics for a flexible-joint arm in the presence of sudden load changes. Because of the need to satisfy a positive real condition, such MRAC procedures are designed so that a feedforward augmented output follows the reference model output, thus, resulting in an ultimately bounded rather than zero output error. Thus, modifications are suggested and tested that: (1) incorporate feedforward into the reference model's output as well as the plant's output, and (2) incorporate a derivative term into only the process feedforward loop. The results of these simulations give a response with zero steady state model following error, and thus encourage further use of MRAC for more complex flexibile robotic systems.

Active vibration control for flexible rotor by optimal direct-output feedback control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nonami, Kenzou; Dirusso, Eliseo; Fleming, David P.

1989-01-01

Experimental research tests were performed to actively control the rotor vibrations of a flexible rotor mounted on flexible bearing supports. The active control method used in the tests is called optimal direct-output feedback control. This method uses four electrodynamic actuators to apply control forces directly to the bearing housings in order to achieve effective vibration control of the rotor. The force actuators are controlled by an analog controller that accepts rotor displacement as input. The controller is programmed with experimentally determined feedback coefficients; the output is a control signal to the force actuators. The tests showed that this active control method reduced the rotor resonance peaks due to unbalance from approximately 250 micrometers down to approximately 25 micrometers (essentially runout level). The tests were conducted over a speed range from 0 to 10,000 rpm; the rotor system had nine critical speeds within this speed range. The method was effective in significantly reducing the rotor vibration for all of the vibration modes and critical speeds.

Active vibration control for flexible rotor by optimal direct-output feedback control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nonami, K.; Dirusso, E.; Fleming, D. P.

1989-01-01

Experimental research tests were performed to actively control the rotor vibrations of a flexible rotor mounted on flexible bearing supports. The active control method used in the tests is called optimal direct-output feedback control. This method uses four electrodynamic actuators to apply control forces directly to the bearing housings in order to achieve effective vibration control of the rotor. The force actuators are controlled by an analog controller that accepts rotor displacement as input. The controller is programmed with experimentally determined feedback coefficients; the output is a control signal to the force actuators. The tests showed that this active control method reduced the rotor resonance peaks due to unbalance from approximately 250 microns down to approximately 25 microns (essentially runout level). The tests were conducted over a speed range from 0 to 10,000 rpm; the rotor system had nine critical speeds within this speed range. The method was effective in significantly reducing the rotor vibration for all of the vibration modes and critical speeds.

Voltage controlled current source

DOEpatents

Casne, Gregory M.

1992-01-01

A seven decade, voltage controlled current source is described for use in testing intermediate range nuclear instruments that covers the entire test current range of from 10 picoamperes to 100 microamperes. High accuracy is obtained throughout the entire seven decades of output current with circuitry that includes a coordinated switching scheme responsive to the input signal from a hybrid computer to control the input voltage to an antilog amplifier, and to selectively connect a resistance to the antilog amplifier output to provide a continuous output current source as a function of a preset range of input voltage. An operator controlled switch provides current adjustment for operation in either a real-time simulation test mode or a time response test mode.

Design of Robust Controllers for a Multiple Input-Multiple Output Control System with Uncertain Parameters Application to the Lateral and Longitudinal Modes of the KC-135 Transport Aircraft

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-12-01

input/output relationship. These are obtained from the design specifications (10:68i-684). Note that the first digit of the subscript of bkj refers...to the output and the second digit to the input. Thus, bkj is.a function of the response requirements on the output, Yk’ due to the input, r.. 169 . A...NXPMAX pNYPMAX, IPLOT) C C C* LIBARY OF PLOT SUBR(OUTINES PSNTCT NLIEPRINTER ONLY~ C* C C C SUP’ LPLOTS C C C DIMENSION IXY(101,71)918UF(100) COMMON /HOPY

Method and apparatus for controlling a microturbine

DOEpatents

Garces, Luis Jose; Cardinal, Mark Edward; Sinha, Gautam; Dame, Mark Edward

2005-08-02

An apparatus for controlling a microturbine, the apparatus including: a rectifier adapted for converting at least one generated voltage from the microturbine to a DC link voltage; an inverter adapted for converting the DC link voltage to at least one inverter output voltage, the at least one inverter output voltage being electrically coupled to an external power bus; a starter drive adapted for converting at least one starter input voltage to at least one starter output voltage, the at least one starter input voltage being electrically coupled to the external power bus, the at least one starter output voltage being electrically coupled to the microturbine.

Cross-shaped torsional spring

DOEpatents

Williamson, Matthew M.; Pratt, Gill A.

1999-06-08

The invention provides an elastic actuator consisting of a motor and a motor drive transmission connected at an output of the motor. An elastic element is connected in series with the motor drive transmission, and this elastic element is positioned to alone support the full weight of any load connected at an output of the actuator. A single force transducer is positioned at a point between a mount for the motor and an output of the actuator. This force transducer generates a force signal, based on deflection of the elastic element, that indicates force applied by the elastic element to an output of the actuator. An active feedback force control loop is connected between the force transducer and the motor for controlling the motor. This motor control is based on the force signal to deflect the elastic element an amount that produces a desired actuator output force. The produced output force is substantially independent of load motion. The invention also provides a torsional spring consisting of a flexible structure having at least three flat sections each connected integrally with and extending radially from a central section. Each flat section extends axially along the central section from a distal end of the central section to a proximal end of the central section.

Magnetically Controlled Variable Transformer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kleiner, Charles T.

1994-01-01

Improved variable-transformer circuit, output voltage and current of which controlled by use of relatively small current supplied at relatively low power to control windings on its magnetic cores. Transformer circuits of this type called "magnetic amplifiers" because ratio between controlled output power and power driving control current of such circuit large. This ratio - power gain - can be as large as 100 in present circuit. Variable-transformer circuit offers advantages of efficiency, safety, and controllability over some prior variable-transformer circuits.

A Study of a Two Stage Maximum Power Point Tracking Control of a Photovoltaic System under Partially Shaded Insolation Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, Kenji; Takano, Ichiro; Sawada, Yoshio

A photovoltaic array shows relatively low output power density, and has a greatly drooping Current-Voltage (I-V) characteristic. Therefore, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) control is used to maximize the output power of the array. Many papers have been reported in relation to MPPT. However, the Current-Power (I-P) curve sometimes shows multi-local maximum points mode under non-uniform insolation conditions. The operating point of the PV system tends to converge to a local maximum output point which is not the real maximal output point on the I-P curve. Some papers have been also reported, trying to avoid this difficulty. However most of those control systems become rather complicated. Then, the two stage MPPT control method is proposed in this paper to realize a relatively simple control system which can track the real maximum power point even under non-uniform insolation conditions. The feasibility of this control concept is confirmed for steady insolation as well as for rapidly changing insolation by simulation study using software PSIM and LabVIEW. In addition, simulated experiment confirms fundament al operation of the two stage MPPT control.

Effect of various infection-control methods for light-cure units on the cure of composite resins.

PubMed

Chong, S L; Lam, Y K; Lee, F K; Ramalingam, L; Yeo, A C; Lim, C C

1998-01-01

This study (1) compared the curing-light intensity with various barrier infection-control methods used to prevent cross contamination, (2) compared the Knoop hardness value of cured composite resin when various barrier control methods were used, and (3) correlated the hardness of the composite resin with the light-intensity output when different infection-control methods were used. The light-cure unit tips were covered with barriers, such as cellophane wrap, plastic gloves, Steri-shields, and finger cots. The control group had no barrier. Composite resins were then cured for each of the five groups, and their Knoop hardness values recorded. The results showed that there was significant statistical difference in the light-intensity output among the five groups. However, there was no significant statistical difference in the Knoop hardness values among any of the groups. There was also no correlation between the Knoop hardness value of the composite resin with the light-intensity output and the different infection-control methods. Therefore, any of the five infection-control methods could be used as barriers for preventing cross-contamination of the light-cure unit tip, for the light-intensity output for all five groups exceeded the recommended value of 300 W/m2. However, to allow a greater margin of error in clinical situations, the authors recommend that the plastic glove or the cellophane wrap be used to wrap the light-cure tip, since these barriers allowed the highest light-intensity output.

Urine output on an intensive care unit: case-control study.

PubMed

Solomon, Anthony W; Kirwan, Christopher J; Alexander, Neal D E; Nimako, Kofi; Jurukov, Angela; Forth, Rebecca J; Rahman, Tony M

2010-12-14

To compare urine output between junior doctors in an intensive care unit and the patients for whom they are responsible. Case-control study. General intensive care unit in a tertiary referral hospital. 18 junior doctors responsible for clerking patients on weekday day shifts in the unit from 23 March to 23 April 2009 volunteered as "cases." Controls were the patients in the unit clerked by those doctors. Exclusion criteria (for both groups) were pregnancy, baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate <15 ml/min/1.73 m(2), and renal replacement therapy. Oliguria (defined as mean urine output <0.5 ml/kg/hour over six or more hours of measurement) and urine output (in ml/kg/hour) as a continuous variable. Doctors were classed as oliguric and "at risk" of acute kidney injury on 19 (22%) of 87 shifts in which urine output was measured, and oliguric to the point of being "in injury" on one (1%) further shift. Data were available for 208 of 209 controls matched to cases in the data collection period; 13 of these were excluded because the control was receiving renal replacement therapy. Doctors were more likely to be oliguric than their patients (odds ratio 1.99, 95% confidence interval 1.08 to 3.68, P=0.03). For each additional 1 ml/kg/hour mean urine output, the odds ratio for being a case rather than a control was 0.27 (0.12 to 0.58, P=0.001). Mortality among doctors was astonishingly low, at 0% (0% to 18%). Managing our own fluid balance is more difficult than managing it in our patients. We should drink more water. Modifications to the criteria for acute kidney injury could be needed for the assessment of junior doctors in an intensive care unit.

Robust output feedback H∞ control for networked control systems based on the occurrence probabilities of time delays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Chenyu; Zhang, Weidong; Bao, Jie

2012-02-01

This article is concerned with the problem of robust H ∞ output feedback control for a kind of networked control systems with time-varying network-induced delays. Instead of using boundaries of time delays to represent all time delays, the occurrence probability of each time delay is considered in H∞ stability analysis and stabilisation. The problem addressed is the design of an output feedback controller such that, for all admissible uncertainties, the resulting closed-loop system is stochastically stable for the zero disturbance input and also simultaneously achieves a prescribed H∞ performance level. It is shown that less conservativeness is obtained. A set of linear matrix inequalities is given to solve the corresponding controller design problem. An example is provided to show the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method.

Hybrid zero-voltage switching (ZVS) control for power inverters

DOEpatents

Amirahmadi, Ahmadreza; Hu, Haibing; Batarseh, Issa

2016-11-01

A power inverter combination includes a half-bridge power inverter including first and second semiconductor power switches receiving input power having an intermediate node therebetween providing an inductor current through an inductor. A controller includes input comparison circuitry receiving the inductor current having outputs coupled to first inputs of pulse width modulation (PWM) generation circuitry, and a predictive control block having an output coupled to second inputs of the PWM generation circuitry. The predictive control block is coupled to receive a measure of Vin and an output voltage at a grid connection point. A memory stores a current control algorithm configured for resetting a PWM period for a switching signal applied to control nodes of the first and second power switch whenever the inductor current reaches a predetermined upper limit or a predetermined lower limit.

Dedicated exhaust gas recirculation control systems and methods

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sczomak, David P.; Narayanaswamy, Kushal; Keating, Edward J.

An engine control system of a vehicle includes a fuel control module that controls fuel injection of a first cylinder of an engine based on a first target air/fuel ratio that is fuel lean relative to a stoichiometric air/fuel ratio and that controls fuel injection of a second cylinder of the engine based on a second target air/fuel ratio that is fuel rich relative to stoichiometry. The first cylinder outputs exhaust to a first three way catalyst (TWC), and the second cylinder outputs exhaust to an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve. An EGR control module controls opening of the EGRmore » valve to: (i) a second TWC that reacts with nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the exhaust and outputs ammonia to a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst; and (ii) a conduit that recirculates exhaust back to an intake system of the engine.« less

Control design methods for floating wind turbines for optimal disturbance rejection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lemmer, Frank; Schlipf, David; Cheng, Po Wen

2016-09-01

An analysis of the floating wind turbine as a multi-input-multi-output system investigating the effect of the control inputs on the system outputs is shown. These effects are compared to the ones of the disturbances from wind and waves in order to give insights for the selection of the control layout. The frequencies with the largest impact on the outputs due to limited effect of the controlled variables are identified. Finally, an optimal controller is designed as a benchmark and compared to a conventional PI-controller using only the rotor speed as input. Here, the previously found system properties, especially the difficulties to damp responses to wave excitation, are confirmed and verified through a spectral analysis with realistic environmental conditions. This comparison also assesses the quality of the employed simplified linear simulation model compared to the nonlinear model and shows that such an efficient frequency-domain evaluation for control design is feasible.

Solid state light source driver establishing buck or boost operation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Palmer, Fred

A solid state light source driver circuit that operates in either a buck convertor or a boost convertor configuration is provided. The driver circuit includes a controller, a boost switch circuit and a buck switch circuit, each coupled to the controller, and a feedback circuit, coupled to the light source. The feedback circuit provides feedback to the controller, representing a DC output of the driver circuit. The controller controls the boost switch circuit and the buck switch circuit in response to the feedback signal, to regulate current to the light source. The controller places the driver circuit in its boostmore » converter configuration when the DC output is less than a rectified AC voltage coupled to the driver circuit at an input node. The controller places the driver circuit in its buck converter configuration when the DC output is greater than the rectified AC voltage at the input node.« less

Mixed H2/Hinfinity output-feedback control of second-order neutral systems with time-varying state and input delays.

PubMed

Karimi, Hamid Reza; Gao, Huijun

2008-07-01

A mixed H2/Hinfinity output-feedback control design methodology is presented in this paper for second-order neutral linear systems with time-varying state and input delays. Delay-dependent sufficient conditions for the design of a desired control are given in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A controller, which guarantees asymptotic stability and a mixed H2/Hinfinity performance for the closed-loop system of the second-order neutral linear system, is then developed directly instead of coupling the model to a first-order neutral system. A Lyapunov-Krasovskii method underlies the LMI-based mixed H2/Hinfinity output-feedback control design using some free weighting matrices. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

Study on Control Scheme for the Inverters in Low Voltage Microgrid with Nonlinear Loads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jiqiang; Lu, Wenzhou; Wu, Lei

2017-05-01

There are a lot of nonlinear loads in real low voltage microgrid system. It will cause serious output voltage and grid current harmonic distortions problems in island and grid-connected modes, respectively. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a droop control scheme with quasi-proportion and resonant (quasi-PR) controller based on αβ stationary reference frame to make microgrid smoothly switch between grid-connected and island modes without changing control method. Moreover, in island mode, not only stable output voltage and frequency, but also reduced output voltage harmonics with added nonlinear loads can be achieved; In grid-connected mode, not only constant power, but also reduced grid current harmonics can be achieved. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Optical Limiting Using the Two-Photon Absorption Electrical Modulation Effect in HgCdTe Photodiode

PubMed Central

Cui, Haoyang; Yang, Junjie; Zeng, Jundong; Tang, Zhong

2013-01-01

The electrical modulation properties of the output intensity of two-photon absorption (TPA) pumping were analyzed in this paper. The frequency dispersion dependence of TPA and the electric field dependence of TPA were calculated using Wherrett theory model and Garcia theory model, respectively. Both predicted a dramatic variation of TPA coefficient which was attributed into the increasing of the transition rate. The output intensity of the laser pulse propagation in the pn junction device was calculated by using function-transfer method. It shows that the output intensity increases nonlinearly with increasing intensity of incident light and eventually reaches saturation. The output saturation intensity depends on the electric field strength; the greater the electric field, the smaller the output intensity. Consequently, the clamped saturation intensity can be controlled by the electric field. The prior advantage of electrical modulation is that the TPA can be varied extremely continuously, thus adjusting the output intensity in a wide range. This large change provides a manipulate method to control steady output intensity of TPA by adjusting electric field. PMID:24198721

Reconfigurable data path processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donohoe, Gregory (Inventor)

2005-01-01

A reconfigurable data path processor comprises a plurality of independent processing elements. Each of the processing elements advantageously comprising an identical architecture. Each processing element comprises a plurality of data processing means for generating a potential output. Each processor is also capable of through-putting an input as a potential output with little or no processing. Each processing element comprises a conditional multiplexer having a first conditional multiplexer input, a second conditional multiplexer input and a conditional multiplexer output. A first potential output value is transmitted to the first conditional multiplexer input, and a second potential output value is transmitted to the second conditional multiplexer output. The conditional multiplexer couples either the first conditional multiplexer input or the second conditional multiplexer input to the conditional multiplexer output, according to an output control command. The output control command is generated by processing a set of arithmetic status-bits through a logical mask. The conditional multiplexer output is coupled to a first processing element output. A first set of arithmetic bits are generated according to the processing of the first processable value. A second set of arithmetic bits may be generated from a second processing operation. The selection of the arithmetic status-bits is performed by an arithmetic-status bit multiplexer selects the desired set of arithmetic status bits from among the first and second set of arithmetic status bits. The conditional multiplexer evaluates the select arithmetic status bits according to logical mask defining an algorithm for evaluating the arithmetic status bits.

Globally linearized control on diabatic continuous stirred tank reactor: a case study.

PubMed

Jana, Amiya Kumar; Samanta, Amar Nath; Ganguly, Saibal

2005-07-01

This paper focuses on the promise of globally linearized control (GLC) structure in the realm of strongly nonlinear reactor system control. The proposed nonlinear control strategy is comprised of: (i) an input-output linearizing state feedback law (transformer), (ii) a state observer, and (iii) an external linear controller. The synthesis of discrete-time GLC controller for single-input single-output diabatic continuous stirred tank reactor (DCSTR) has been studied first, followed by the synthesis of feedforward/feedback controller for the same reactor having dead time in process as well as in disturbance. Subsequently, the multivariable GLC structure has been designed and then applied on multi-input multi-output DCSTR system. The simulation study shows high quality performance of the derived nonlinear controllers. The better-performed GLC in conjunction with reduced-order observer has been compared with the conventional proportional integral controller on the example reactor and superior performance has been achieved by the proposed GLC control scheme.

Modal control of an oblique wing aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phillips, James D.

1989-01-01

A linear modal control algorithm is applied to the NASA Oblique Wing Research Aircraft (OWRA). The control law is evaluated using a detailed nonlinear flight simulation. It is shown that the modal control law attenuates the coupling and nonlinear aerodynamics of the oblique wing and remains stable during control saturation caused by large command inputs or large external disturbances. The technique controls each natural mode independently allowing single-input/single-output techniques to be applied to multiple-input/multiple-output systems.

Alternative Controller for a Fiber-Optic Switch

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peters, Robert

2007-01-01

A simplified diagram of a relatively inexpensive controller for a DiCon VX (or equivalent) fiber-optic switch -- an electromechanically actuated switch for optically connecting one or two input optical fibers to any of a number of output optical fibers is shown. DiCon VX fiber-optic switches are used primarily in research and development in the telecommunication industry. This controller can control any such switch having up to 32 output channels.

36 CFR 1193.43 - Output, display, and control functions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... functions. 1193.43 Section 1193.43 Parks, Forests, and Public Property ARCHITECTURAL AND TRANSPORTATION... and Usability § 1193.43 Output, display, and control functions. All information necessary to operate... amplification, increased signal-to-noise ratio, or combination). For transmitted voice signals, provide a gain...

36 CFR 1193.43 - Output, display, and control functions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... functions. 1193.43 Section 1193.43 Parks, Forests, and Public Property ARCHITECTURAL AND TRANSPORTATION... and Usability § 1193.43 Output, display, and control functions. All information necessary to operate... amplification, increased signal-to-noise ratio, or combination). For transmitted voice signals, provide a gain...

36 CFR 1193.43 - Output, display, and control functions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... functions. 1193.43 Section 1193.43 Parks, Forests, and Public Property ARCHITECTURAL AND TRANSPORTATION... and Usability § 1193.43 Output, display, and control functions. All information necessary to operate... amplification, increased signal-to-noise ratio, or combination). For transmitted voice signals, provide a gain...

36 CFR 1193.43 - Output, display, and control functions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... functions. 1193.43 Section 1193.43 Parks, Forests, and Public Property ARCHITECTURAL AND TRANSPORTATION... and Usability § 1193.43 Output, display, and control functions. All information necessary to operate... amplification, increased signal-to-noise ratio, or combination). For transmitted voice signals, provide a gain...

Prosthetic Leg Control in the Nullspace of Human Interaction.

PubMed

Gregg, Robert D; Martin, Anne E

2016-07-01

Recent work has extended the control method of virtual constraints, originally developed for autonomous walking robots, to powered prosthetic legs for lower-limb amputees. Virtual constraints define desired joint patterns as functions of a mechanical phasing variable, which are typically enforced by torque control laws that linearize the output dynamics associated with the virtual constraints. However, the output dynamics of a powered prosthetic leg generally depend on the human interaction forces, which must be measured and canceled by the feedback linearizing control law. This feedback requires expensive multi-axis load cells, and actively canceling the interaction forces may minimize the human's influence over the prosthesis. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a method for projecting virtual constraints into the nullspace of the human interaction terms in the output dynamics. The projected virtual constraints naturally render the output dynamics invariant with respect to the human interaction forces, which instead enter into the internal dynamics of the partially linearized prosthetic system. This method is illustrated with simulations of a transfemoral amputee model walking with a powered knee-ankle prosthesis that is controlled via virtual constraints with and without the proposed projection.

Predicting Time Series Outputs and Time-to-Failure for an Aircraft Controller Using Bayesian Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

He, Yuning

2015-01-01

Safety of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) is paramount, but the large number of dynamically changing controller parameters makes it hard to determine if the system is currently stable, and the time before loss of control if not. We propose a hierarchical statistical model using Treed Gaussian Processes to predict (i) whether a flight will be stable (success) or become unstable (failure), (ii) the time-to-failure if unstable, and (iii) time series outputs for flight variables. We first classify the current flight input into success or failure types, and then use separate models for each class to predict the time-to-failure and time series outputs. As different inputs may cause failures at different times, we have to model variable length output curves. We use a basis representation for curves and learn the mappings from input to basis coefficients. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our prediction methods on a NASA neuro-adaptive flight control system.

Peak-Seeking Control Using Gradient and Hessian Estimates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ryan, John J.; Speyer, Jason L.

2010-01-01

A peak-seeking control method is presented which utilizes a linear time-varying Kalman filter. Performance function coordinate and magnitude measurements are used by the Kalman filter to estimate the gradient and Hessian of the performance function. The gradient and Hessian are used to command the system toward a local extremum. The method is naturally applied to multiple-input multiple-output systems. Applications of this technique to a single-input single-output example and a two-input one-output example are presented.

Wireless, relative-motion computer input device

DOEpatents

Holzrichter, John F.; Rosenbury, Erwin T.

2004-05-18

The present invention provides a system for controlling a computer display in a workspace using an input unit/output unit. A train of EM waves are sent out to flood the workspace. EM waves are reflected from the input unit/output unit. A relative distance moved information signal is created using the EM waves that are reflected from the input unit/output unit. Algorithms are used to convert the relative distance moved information signal to a display signal. The computer display is controlled in response to the display signal.

Proceedings of the Antenna Applications Symposium Held at Urbana, Illinois on 19-21 September 1984. Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-01-01

lbs. at STA 117. Rlando Vibration MIL-STD-1SOC. Method. 514.2, 20-2w000 z at Wo a .04S2/Rz, I bour each axis. lhock NIL4- TD -8IOC, Method 516.2...day-. FULL FAR FIELD O-NE CUT INFAR FIELD 0 NBS BENCHMARK TIME 1000sm 0 TD 13ENCHMARK TIME __ 1 hou .j SPHERICAL OR PLANE, POLAR 1000 sec 20 60 100...for the coupling: bBd h ’(kd)IO d> 6 + (4) "-.(4) a2 nnedd an 32 1), i) fljfi f*f P(cose) si d do (5) 630 The spherical Hankel function of the first

Schedule Analytics

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-04-30

1990’s to Today MAIS MDAP 12.75 Years 7.9 Years 43 Months 68 Months 42 Months A B C IOC 31m 41m 23m FDD A B C A B C Materiel...to FDD 26 2m 9m 16m 41m 72m Months MS A to MS B MS B to MS C MS C to FDD 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90...vs. Schedule 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 >$1B $500M-$1B <$500M M on th s MAIS MS A – MS B MS B – MS C MS C – FDD Total © 2016 The MITRE

An update of the federal drinking water regs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pontius, F.W.

1995-02-01

Previous reviews have summarized the regulations promulgated for volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), fluoride, surface water treatment, total coliform bacteria, lead and copper, and Phase 2 and Phase 5 synthetic organic contaminants (SOCs) and inorganic contaminants (IOCs). Current developments related to these rules and anticipated new rules are reviewed in this article. Current numerical drinking water standards and best available technology (BAT) are summarized. The status of all current, proposed, and anticipated regulations is also summarized. Dates for anticipated agency actions are based on the US Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA's) published regulatory agenda and on information released by the agency throughmore » December 1994; these dates can change as the agency reconsiders its regulatory policies.« less

Conservatism implications of shock test tailoring for multiple design environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baca, Thomas J.; Bell, R. Glenn; Robbins, Susan A.

1987-01-01

A method for analyzing shock conservation in test specifications that have been tailored to qualify a structure for multiple design environments is discussed. Shock test conservation is qualified for shock response spectra, shock intensity spectra and ranked peak acceleration data in terms of an Index of Conservation (IOC) and an Overtest Factor (OTF). The multi-environment conservation analysis addresses the issue of both absolute and average conservation. The method is demonstrated in a case where four laboratory tests have been specified to qualify a component which must survive seven different field environments. Final judgment of the tailored test specification is shown to require an understanding of the predominant failure modes of the test item.

High voltage dc--dc converter with dynamic voltage regulation and decoupling during load-generated arcs

DOEpatents

Shimer, D.W.; Lange, A.C.

1995-05-23

A high-power power supply produces a controllable, constant high voltage output under varying and arcing loads. The power supply includes a voltage regulator, an inductor, an inverter for producing a high frequency square wave current of alternating polarity, an improved inverter voltage clamping circuit, a step up transformer, an output rectifier for producing a dc voltage at the output of each module, and a current sensor for sensing output current. The power supply also provides dynamic response to varying loads by controlling the voltage regulator duty cycle and circuitry is provided for sensing incipient arc currents at the output of the power supply to simultaneously decouple the power supply circuitry from the arcing load. The power supply includes a plurality of discrete switching type dc--dc converter modules. 5 Figs.

High voltage dc-dc converter with dynamic voltage regulation and decoupling during load-generated arcs

DOEpatents

Shimer, Daniel W.; Lange, Arnold C.

1995-01-01

A high-power power supply produces a controllable, constant high voltage output under varying and arcing loads. The power supply includes a voltage regulator, an inductor, an inverter for producing a high frequency square wave current of alternating polarity, an improved inverter voltage clamping circuit, a step up transformer, an output rectifier for producing a dc voltage at the output of each module, and a current sensor for sensing output current. The power supply also provides dynamic response to varying loads by controlling the voltage regulator duty cycle and circuitry is provided for sensing incipient arc currents at the output of the power supply to simultaneously decouple the power supply circuitry from the arcing load. The power supply includes a plurality of discrete switching type dc--dc converter modules.

Almost output regulation of LFT systems via gain-scheduling control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Chengzhi; Duan, Chang; Wu, Fen

2018-05-01

Output regulation of general uncertain systems is a meaningful yet challenging problem. In spite of the rich literature in the field, the problem has not yet been addressed adequately due to the lack of an effective design mechanism. In this paper, we propose a new design framework for almost output regulation of uncertain systems described in the general form of linear fractional transformation (LFT) with time-varying parametric uncertainties and unknown external perturbations. A novel semi-LFT gain-scheduling output regulator structure is proposed, such that the associated control synthesis conditions guaranteeing both output regulation and ? disturbance attenuation performance are formulated as a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) plus parameter-dependent linear matrix equations, which can be solved separately. A numerical example has been used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Dual side control for inductive power transfer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Hunter; Sealy, Kylee; Gilchrist, Aaron

An apparatus for dual side control includes a measurement module that measures a voltage and a current of an IPT system. The voltage includes an output voltage and/or an input voltage and the current includes an output current and/or an input current. The output voltage and the output current are measured at an output of the IPT system and the input voltage and the input current measured at an input of the IPT system. The apparatus includes a max efficiency module that determines a maximum efficiency for the IPT system. The max efficiency module uses parameters of the IPT systemmore » to iterate to a maximum efficiency. The apparatus includes an adjustment module that adjusts one or more parameters in the IPT system consistent with the maximum efficiency calculated by the max efficiency module.« less

Quasi-minimal active disturbance rejection control of MIMO perturbed linear systems based on differential neural networks and the attractive ellipsoid method.

PubMed

Salgado, Iván; Mera-Hernández, Manuel; Chairez, Isaac

2017-11-01

This study addresses the problem of designing an output-based controller to stabilize multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems in the presence of parametric disturbances as well as uncertainties in the state model and output noise measurements. The controller design includes a linear state transformation which separates uncertainties matched to the control input and the unmatched ones. A differential neural network (DNN) observer produces a nonlinear approximation of the matched perturbation and the unknown states simultaneously in the transformed coordinates. This study proposes the use of the Attractive Ellipsoid Method (AEM) to optimize the gains of the controller and the gain observer in the DNN structure. As a consequence, the obtained control input minimizes the convergence zone for the estimation error. Moreover, the control design uses the estimated disturbance provided by the DNN to obtain a better performance in the stabilization task in comparison with a quasi-minimal output feedback controller based on a Luenberger observer and a sliding mode controller. Numerical results pointed out the advantages obtained by the nonlinear control based on the DNN observer. The first example deals with the stabilization of an academic linear MIMO perturbed system and the second example stabilizes the trajectories of a DC-motor into a predefined operation point. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Output Feedback Stabilization for a Class of Multi-Variable Bilinear Stochastic Systems with Stochastic Coupling Attenuation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Qichun; Zhou, Jinglin; Wang, Hong

In this paper, stochastic coupling attenuation is investigated for a class of multi-variable bilinear stochastic systems and a novel output feedback m-block backstepping controller with linear estimator is designed, where gradient descent optimization is used to tune the design parameters of the controller. It has been shown that the trajectories of the closed-loop stochastic systems are bounded in probability sense and the stochastic coupling of the system outputs can be effectively attenuated by the proposed control algorithm. Moreover, the stability of the stochastic systems is analyzed and the effectiveness of the proposed method has been demonstrated using a simulated example.

Spectrum-modulating fiber-optic sensors for aircraft control systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beheim, Glenn; Fritsch, Klaus

1987-01-01

A family of fiber-optic sensors for aircraft engine control systems is described. Each of these sensors uses a spectrum-modulation method to obtain an output which is largely independent of the fiber link transmissivity. A position encoder is described which uses a code plate to digitally modulate the sensor output spectrum. Also described are pressure and temperature sensors, each of which uses a Fabry-Perot cavity to modulate the sensor output spectrum as a continuous function of the measurand. A technique is described whereby a collection of these sensors may be effectively combined to perform a number of the measurements which are required by an aircraft-engine control system.

Fuzzy Control of Robotic Arm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Kyaw Kyaw; Soe, Aung Kyaw; Thu, Theint Theint

2008-10-01

This research work investigates a Self-Tuning Proportional Derivative (PD) type Fuzzy Logic Controller (STPDFLC) for a two link robot system. The proposed scheme adjusts on-line the output Scaling Factor (SF) by fuzzy rules according to the current trend of the robot. The rule base for tuning the output scaling factor is defined on the error (e) and change in error (de). The scheme is also based on the fact that the controller always tries to manipulate the process input. The rules are in the familiar if-then format. All membership functions for controller inputs (e and de) and controller output (UN) are defined on the common interval [-1,1]; whereas the membership functions for the gain updating factor (α) is defined on [0,1]. There are various methods to calculate the crisp output of the system. Center of Gravity (COG) method is used in this application due to better results it gives. Performances of the proposed STPDFLC are compared with those of their corresponding PD-type conventional Fuzzy Logic Controller (PDFLC). The proposed scheme shows a remarkably improved performance over its conventional counterpart especially under parameters variation (payload). The two-link results of analysis are simulated. These simulation results are illustrated by using MATLAB® programming.

Gastric secretory function in coeliac disease.

PubMed

Marcello, U; Deganello, A; Consolaro, G; Zoppi, G

1979-01-18

Volume, total titrable acidity, total proteolytic activity and pepsin activity have been determined in 14 coeliac patients and in 8 controls of comparable ages and body weights. Basal secretion (B.O.), total outputs (T. O.) and peak outputs (P.O.) after pentagastrin injection have been determined. Peak outputs (values 60 min/kg) of these parameters are as follows: volume 5.0+/-1.7 ml in coeliacs, 4.3+/-1.2 ml in controls; total titrable acidity 406.1+/-155.0 mEq in patients, 296.1+/-182.4 in conttrols; total proteolytic activity 962.1+/-501.1 micronEq in coeliacs, 569.6+/-272.2 in controls; pepsin activity 789.1+/-521.8 micronEq in patients, 447.6+/-150.4 in controls.

Finite-time stabilization of uncertain nonholonomic systems in feedforward-like form by output feedback.

PubMed

Gao, Fangzheng; Wu, Yuqiang; Zhang, Zhongcai

2015-11-01

This paper investigates the problem of finite-time stabilization by output feedback for a class of nonholonomic systems in chained form with uncertainties. Comparing with the existing relevant literature, a distinguishing feature of the systems under investigation is that the x-subsystem is a feedforward-like rather than feedback-like system. This renders the existing control methods inapplicable to the control problems of the systems. A constructive design procedure for output feedback control is given. The designed controller renders that the states of closed-loop system are regulated to zero in a finite time. Two simulation examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Method of controlling cyclic variation in engine combustion

DOEpatents

Davis, L.I. Jr.; Daw, C.S.; Feldkamp, L.A.; Hoard, J.W.; Yuan, F.; Connolly, F.T.

1999-07-13

Cyclic variation in combustion of a lean burning engine is reduced by detecting an engine combustion event output such as torsional acceleration in a cylinder (i) at a combustion event (k), using the detected acceleration to predict a target acceleration for the cylinder at the next combustion event (k+1), modifying the target output by a correction term that is inversely proportional to the average phase of the combustion event output of cylinder (i) and calculating a control output such as fuel pulse width or spark timing necessary to achieve the target acceleration for cylinder (i) at combustion event (k+1) based on anti-correlation with the detected acceleration and spill-over effects from fueling. 27 figs.

Method of controlling cyclic variation in engine combustion

DOEpatents

Davis, Jr., Leighton Ira; Daw, Charles Stuart; Feldkamp, Lee Albert; Hoard, John William; Yuan, Fumin; Connolly, Francis Thomas

1999-01-01

Cyclic variation in combustion of a lean burning engine is reduced by detecting an engine combustion event output such as torsional acceleration in a cylinder (i) at a combustion event (k), using the detected acceleration to predict a target acceleration for the cylinder at the next combustion event (k+1), modifying the target output by a correction term that is inversely proportional to the average phase of the combustion event output of cylinder (i) and calculating a control output such as fuel pulse width or spark timing necessary to achieve the target acceleration for cylinder (i) at combustion event (k+1) based on anti-correlation with the detected acceleration and spill-over effects from fueling.

Vibration suppression for large scale adaptive truss structures using direct output feedback control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lu, Lyan-Ywan; Utku, Senol; Wada, Ben K.

1993-01-01

In this article, the vibration control of adaptive truss structures, where the control actuation is provided by length adjustable active members, is formulated as a direct output feedback control problem. A control method named Model Truncated Output Feedback (MTOF) is presented. The method allows the control feedback gain to be determined in a decoupled and truncated modal space in which only the critical vibration modes are retained. The on-board computation required by MTOF is minimal; thus, the method is favorable for the applications of vibration control of large scale structures. The truncation of the modal space inevitably introduces spillover effect during the control process. In this article, the effect is quantified in terms of active member locations, and it is shown that the optimal placement of active members, which minimizes the spillover effect (and thus, maximizes the control performance) can be sought. The problem of optimally selecting the locations of active members is also treated.

IEEE 1588 Time Synchronization Board in MTCA.4 Form Factor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jabłoński, G.; Makowski, D.; Mielczarek, A.; Orlikowski, M.; Perek, P.; Napieralski, A.; Makijarvi, P.; Simrock, S.

2015-06-01

Distributed data acquisition and control systems in large-scale scientific experiments, like e.g. ITER, require time synchronization with nanosecond precision. A protocol commonly used for that purpose is the Precise Timing Protocol (PTP), also known as IEEE 1588 standard. It uses the standard Ethernet signalling and protocols and allows obtaining timing accuracy of the order of tens of nanoseconds. The MTCA.4 is gradually becoming the platform of choice for building such systems. Currently there is no commercially available implementation of the PTP receiver on that platform. In this paper, we present a module in the MTCA.4 form factor supporting this standard. The module may be used as a timing receiver providing reference clocks in an MTCA.4 chassis, generating a Pulse Per Second (PPS) signal and allowing generation of triggers and timestamping of events on 8 configurable backplane lines and two front panel connectors. The module is based on the Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA and thermally stabilized Voltage Controlled Oscillator controlled by the digital-to-analog converter. The board supports standalone operation, without the support from the host operating system, as the entire control algorithm is run on a Microblaze CPU implemented in the FPGA. The software support for the card includes the low-level API in the form of Linux driver, user-mode library, high-level API: ITER Nominal Device Support and EPICS IOC. The device has been tested in the ITER timing distribution network (TCN) with three cascaded PTP-enabled Hirschmann switches and a GPS reference clock source. An RMS synchronization accuracy, measured by direct comparison of the PPS signals, better than 20 ns has been obtained.

Design controls for large order systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doane, George B., III

1991-01-01

The output of this task will be a program plan which will delineate how MSFC will support and implement its portion of the Inter-Center Computational Controls Program Plan. Another output will be the results of looking at various multibody/multidegree of freedom computer programs in various environments.

Simulated lumped-parameter system reduced-order adaptive control studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, C. R., Jr.; Lawrence, D. A.; Taylor, T.; Malakooti, M. V.

1981-01-01

Two methods of interpreting the misbehavior of reduced order adaptive controllers are discussed. The first method is based on system input-output description and the second is based on state variable description. The implementation of the single input, single output, autoregressive, moving average system is considered.

Networked iterative learning control design for discrete-time systems with stochastic communication delay in input and output channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jian; Ruan, Xiaoe

2017-07-01

This paper develops two kinds of derivative-type networked iterative learning control (NILC) schemes for repetitive discrete-time systems with stochastic communication delay occurred in input and output channels and modelled as 0-1 Bernoulli-type stochastic variable. In the two schemes, the delayed signal of the current control input is replaced by the synchronous input utilised at the previous iteration, whilst for the delayed signal of the system output the one scheme substitutes it by the synchronous predetermined desired trajectory and the other takes it by the synchronous output at the previous operation, respectively. In virtue of the mathematical expectation, the tracking performance is analysed which exhibits that for both the linear time-invariant and nonlinear affine systems the two kinds of NILCs are convergent under the assumptions that the probabilities of communication delays are adequately constrained and the product of the input-output coupling matrices is full-column rank. Last, two illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and validity of the proposed NILC schemes.

Model predictive control of the solid oxide fuel cell stack temperature with models based on experimental data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pohjoranta, Antti; Halinen, Matias; Pennanen, Jari; Kiviaho, Jari

2015-03-01

Generalized predictive control (GPC) is applied to control the maximum temperature in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack and the temperature difference over the stack. GPC is a model predictive control method and the models utilized in this work are ARX-type (autoregressive with extra input), multiple input-multiple output, polynomial models that were identified from experimental data obtained from experiments with a complete SOFC system. The proposed control is evaluated by simulation with various input-output combinations, with and without constraints. A comparison with conventional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control is also made. It is shown that if only the stack maximum temperature is controlled, a standard PID controller can be used to obtain output performance comparable to that obtained with the significantly more complex model predictive controller. However, in order to control the temperature difference over the stack, both the stack minimum and the maximum temperature need to be controlled and this cannot be done with a single PID controller. In such a case the model predictive controller provides a feasible and effective solution.

Finite Control Set Model Predictive Control for Multiple Distributed Generators Microgrids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babqi, Abdulrahman Jamal

This dissertation proposes two control strategies for AC microgrids that consist of multiple distributed generators (DGs). The control strategies are valid for both grid-connected and islanded modes of operation. In general, microgrid can operate as a stand-alone system (i.e., islanded mode) or while it is connected to the utility grid (i.e., grid connected mode). To enhance the performance of a micrgorid, a sophisticated control scheme should be employed. The control strategies of microgrids can be divided into primary and secondary controls. The primary control regulates the output active and reactive powers of each DG in grid-connected mode as well as the output voltage and frequency of each DG in islanded mode. The secondary control is responsible for regulating the microgrid voltage and frequency in the islanded mode. Moreover, it provides power sharing schemes among the DGs. In other words, the secondary control specifies the set points (i.e. reference values) for the primary controllers. In this dissertation, Finite Control Set Model Predictive Control (FCS-MPC) was proposed for controlling microgrids. FCS-MPC was used as the primary controller to regulate the output power of each DG (in the grid-connected mode) or the voltage of the point of DG coupling (in the islanded mode of operation). In the grid-connected mode, Direct Power Model Predictive Control (DPMPC) was implemented to manage the power flow between each DG and the utility grid. In the islanded mode, Voltage Model Predictive Control (VMPC), as the primary control, and droop control, as the secondary control, were employed to control the output voltage of each DG and system frequency. The controller was equipped with a supplementary current limiting technique in order to limit the output current of each DG in abnormal incidents. The control approach also enabled smooth transition between the two modes. The performance of the control strategy was investigated and verified using PSCAD/EMTDC software platform. This dissertation also proposes a control and power sharing strategy for small-scale microgrids in both grid-connected and islanded modes based on centralized FCS-MPC. In grid-connected mode, the controller was capable of managing the output power of each DG and enabling flexible power regulation between the microgrid and the utility grid. In islanded mode, the controller regulated the microgrid voltage and frequency, and provided a precise power sharing scheme among the DGs. In addition, the power sharing can be adjusted flexibly by changing the sharing ratio. The proposed control also enabled plug-and-play operation. Moreover, a smooth transition between the two modes of operation was achieved without any disturbance in the system. Case studies were carried out in order to validate the proposed control strategy with the PSCAD/EMTDA software package.

A Pseudo Fractional-N Clock Generator with 50% Duty Cycle Output

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Wei-Bin; Lo, Yu-Lung; Chao, Ting-Sheng

A proposed pseudo fractional-N clock generator with 50% duty cycle output is presented by using the pseudo fractional-N controller for SoC chips and the dynamic frequency scaling applications. The different clock frequencies can be generated with the particular phase combinations of a four-stage voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO). It has been fabricated in a 0.13µm CMOS technology, and work with a supply voltage of 1.2V. According to measured results, the frequency range of the proposed pseudo fractional-N clock generator is from 71.4MHz to 1GHz and the peak-to-peak jitter is less than 5% of the output period. Duty cycle error rates of the output clock frequencies are from 0.8% to 2% and the measured power dissipation of the pseudo fractional-N controller is 146µW at 304MHz.

Theoretic aspects of the identification of the parameters in the optimal control model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vanwijk, R. A.; Kok, J. J.

1977-01-01

The identification of the parameters of the optimal control model from input-output data of the human operator is considered. Accepting the basic structure of the model as a cascade of a full-order observer and a feedback law, and suppressing the inherent optimality of the human controller, the parameters to be identified are the feedback matrix, the observer gain matrix, and the intensity matrices of the observation noise and the motor noise. The identification of the parameters is a statistical problem, because the system and output are corrupted by noise, and therefore the solution must be based on the statistics (probability density function) of the input and output data of the human operator. However, based on the statistics of the input-output data of the human operator, no distinction can be made between the observation and the motor noise, which shows that the model suffers from overparameterization.

Time-response shaping using output to input saturation transformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chambon, E.; Burlion, L.; Apkarian, P.

2018-03-01

For linear systems, the control law design is often performed so that the resulting closed loop meets specific frequency-domain requirements. However, in many cases, it may be observed that the obtained controller does not enforce time-domain requirements amongst which the objective of keeping a scalar output variable in a given interval. In this article, a transformation is proposed to convert prescribed bounds on an output variable into time-varying saturations on the synthesised linear scalar control law. This transformation uses some well-chosen time-varying coefficients so that the resulting time-varying saturation bounds do not overlap in the presence of disturbances. Using an anti-windup approach, it is obtained that the origin of the resulting closed loop is globally asymptotically stable and that the constrained output variable satisfies the time-domain constraints in the presence of an unknown finite-energy-bounded disturbance. An application to a linear ball and beam model is presented.

Pressure-Transducer Simulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Richard A.

1987-01-01

Simulation circuit operates under remote, automatic, or manual control to produce electrical outputs similar to pressure transducer. Specific circuit designed for simulations of Space Shuttle main engine. General circuit concept adaptable to other simulation and control systems involving several operating modes. Switches and amplifiers respond to external control signals and panel control settings to vary differential excitation of resistive bridge. Output voltage or passive terminal resistance made to equal pressure transducer in any of four operating modes.

Research on output feedback control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calise, A. J.; Kramer, F. S.

1985-01-01

In designing fixed order compensators, an output feedback formulation has been adopted by suitably augmenting the system description to include the compensator states. However, the minimization of the performance index over the range of possible compensator descriptions was impeded due to the nonuniqueness of the compensator transfer function. A controller canonical form of the compensator was chosen to reduce the number of free parameters to its minimal number in the optimization. In the MIMO case, the controller form requires a prespecified set of ascending controllability indices. This constraint on the compensator structure is rather innocuous in relation to the increase in convergence rate of the optimization. Moreover, the controller form is easily relatable to a unique controller transfer function description. This structure of the compensator does not require penalizing the compensator states for a nonzero or coupled solution, a problem that occurs when following a standard output feedback synthesis formulation.

Regulation of the Output Voltage of an Inverter in Case of Load Variation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diouri, Omar; Errahimi, Fatima; Es-Sbai, Najia

2018-05-01

In a DC/AC photovoltaic application, the stability of the output voltage of the inverter plays a very important role in the electrical systems. Such a photovoltaic system is constituted by an inverter, which makes it possible to convert the continuous energy to the alternative energy used in systems which operate under a voltage of 230V. The output of this inverter can be connected to a single load or more, at which time a second load is added in parallel with the first load. In this case, it proves a voltage drop at the output of the inverter. This problem influences the proper functioning of the electrical loads. Therefore, our contribution is to give a solution to this by compensating this voltage drop using a boost converter at the input of the inverter. This boost converter will play the role of the compensator that will provide the necessary voltage to the inverter in order to increase the voltage across the loads. But the use of this boost without controlling it is not enough because it generates a voltage that depends on the duty cycle of the control signal. To stabilize the output voltage of the inverter, we used a Proportional, Integral, and Derivative control (PID), which makes it possible to generate the necessary control signal for the voltage boost in order to have a good regulation of the output voltage of the inverter. Finally, we have solved the problem of the voltage drop even though there is loads variation.

Grid-connected wind and photovoltaic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devabakthuni, Sindhuja

The objective of this thesis is to design a grid connected wind and photovoltaic system. A new model of converter control was designed which maintains the voltage of the bus to grid as constant when combined system of solar and wind is connected to AC bus. The model is designed to track maximum power at each point irrespective of changes in irradiance, temperature and wind speed which affects the power supplied to grid. Solar power from the sun is not constant as it is affected by changes in irradiances and temperature. Even the wind power is affected by wind speed. A MPPT controller was designed for both systems. A boost converter is designed which uses the pulses from MPPT controller to boost the output. Wind system consists of wind turbine block from the MATLAB with a pitch angle controller to maintain optimum pitch angle. The output from wind turbine is connected to a permanent magnet synchronous generator. The unregulated DC output from the photovoltaic system is directly given to boost converter. The AC output from the wind system is given to an uncontrolled rectifier to get a unregulated DC output. The unregulated DC output goes to the boost converter. A voltage source inverter was designed which converts the rectified DC output from the boost converter to AC power. The inverter is designed to maintain constant AC bus voltage irrespective of the disturbances in the power supply. Photovoltaic and wind systems are individually designed for 5KW each in MATLAB-Simulink environment. In this thesis, the models were subjected to changes in irradiance, temperature and wind speed and the results were interpreted. The model was successful in tracking maximum at every instant and the AC bus voltage was maintained constant throughout the simulation.

A self-regulating biomolecular comparator for processing oscillatory signals

PubMed Central

Agrawal, Deepak K.; Franco, Elisa; Schulman, Rebecca

2015-01-01

While many cellular processes are driven by biomolecular oscillators, precise control of a downstream on/off process by a biochemical oscillator signal can be difficult: over an oscillator's period, its output signal varies continuously between its amplitude limits and spends a significant fraction of the time at intermediate values between these limits. Further, the oscillator's output is often noisy, with particularly large variations in the amplitude. In electronic systems, an oscillating signal is generally processed by a downstream device such as a comparator that converts a potentially noisy oscillatory input into a square wave output that is predominantly in one of two well-defined on and off states. The comparator's output then controls downstream processes. We describe a method for constructing a synthetic biochemical device that likewise produces a square-wave-type biomolecular output for a variety of oscillatory inputs. The method relies on a separation of time scales between the slow rate of production of an oscillatory signal molecule and the fast rates of intermolecular binding and conformational changes. We show how to control the characteristics of the output by varying the concentrations of the species and the reaction rates. We then use this control to show how our approach could be applied to process different in vitro and in vivo biomolecular oscillators, including the p53-Mdm2 transcriptional oscillator and two types of in vitro transcriptional oscillators. These results demonstrate how modular biomolecular circuits could, in principle, be combined to build complex dynamical systems. The simplicity of our approach also suggests that natural molecular circuits may process some biomolecular oscillator outputs before they are applied downstream. PMID:26378119

Cross-shaped torsional spring

DOEpatents

Williamson, M.M.; Pratt, G.A.

1999-06-08

The invention provides an elastic actuator consisting of a motor and a motor drive transmission connected at an output of the motor. An elastic element is connected in series with the motor drive transmission, and this elastic element is positioned to alone support the full weight of any load connected at an output of the actuator. A single force transducer is positioned at a point between a mount for the motor and an output of the actuator. This force transducer generates a force signal, based on deflection of the elastic element, that indicates force applied by the elastic element to an output of the actuator. An active feedback force control loop is connected between the force transducer and the motor for controlling the motor. This motor control is based on the force signal to deflect the elastic element an amount that produces a desired actuator output force. The produced output force is substantially independent of load motion. The invention also provides a torsional spring consisting of a flexible structure having at least three flat sections each connected integrally with and extending radially from a central section. Each flat section extends axially along the central section from a distal end of the central section to a proximal end of the central section. 30 figs.

The interdependence of Ca2+ activation, sarcomere length, and power output in the heart.

PubMed

McDonald, Kerry S

2011-07-01

Myocardium generates power to perform external work on the circulation; yet, many questions regarding intermolecular mechanisms regulating power output remain unresolved. Power output equals force × shortening velocity, and some interesting new observations regarding control of these two factors have arisen. While it is well established that sarcomere length tightly controls myocyte force, sarcomere length-tension relationships also appear to be markedly modulated by PKA-mediated phosphorylation of myofibrillar proteins. Concerning loaded shortening, historical models predict independent cross-bridge mechanics; however, it seems that the mechanical state of one population of cross-bridges affects the activity of other cross-bridges by, for example, recruitment of cross-bridges from the non-cycling pool to the cycling force-generating pool during submaximal Ca(2+) activation. This is supported by the findings that Ca(2+) activation levels, myofilament phosphorylation, and sarcomere length are all modulators of loaded shortening and power output independent of their effects on force. This fine tuning of power output probably helps optimize myocardial energetics and to match ventricular supply with peripheral demand; yet, the discernment of the chemo-mechanical signals that modulate loaded shortening needs further clarification since power output may be a key convergent point and feedback regulator of cytoskeleton and cellular signals that control myocyte growth and survival.

High density, multi-range analog output Versa Module Europa board for control system applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Singh, Kundan, E-mail: kundan@iuac.res.in; Das, Ajit Lal

2014-01-15

A new VMEDAC64, 12-bit 64 channel digital-to-analog converter, a Versa Module Europa (VME) module, features 64 analog voltage outputs with user selectable multiple ranges, has been developed for control system applications at Inter University Accelerator Centre. The FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) is the module's core, i.e., it implements the DAC control logic and complexity of VMEbus slave interface logic. The VMEbus slave interface and DAC control logic are completely designed and implemented on a single FPGA chip to achieve high density of 64 channels in a single width VME module and will reduce the module count in the controlmore » system applications, and hence will reduce the power consumption and cost of overall system. One of our early design goals was to develop the VME interface such that it can be easily integrated with the peripheral devices and satisfy the timing specifications of VME standard. The modular design of this module reduces the amount of time required to develop other custom modules for control system. The VME slave interface is written as a single component inside FPGA which will be used as a basic building block for any VMEbus interface project. The module offers multiple output voltage ranges depending upon the requirement. The output voltage range can be reduced or expanded by writing range selection bits in the control register. The module has programmable refresh rate and by default hold capacitors in the sample and hold circuit for each channel are charged periodically every 7.040 ms (i.e., update frequency 284 Hz). Each channel has software controlled output switch which disconnects analog output from the field. The modularity in the firmware design on FPGA makes the debugging very easy. On-board DC/DC converters are incorporated for isolated power supply for the analog section of the board.« less

Fuzzy Logic Controlled Solar Module for Driving Three- Phase Induction Motor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afiqah Zainal, Nurul; Sooi Tat, Chan; Ajisman

2016-02-01

Renewable energy produced by solar module gives advantages for generated three- phase induction motor in remote area. But, solar module's ou tput is uncertain and complex. Fuzzy logic controller is one of controllers that can handle non-linear system and maximum power of solar module. Fuzzy logic controller used for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technique to control Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) for switching power electronics circuit. DC-DC boost converter used to boost up photovoltaic voltage to desired output and supply voltage source inverter which controlled by three-phase PWM generated by microcontroller. IGBT switched Voltage source inverter (VSI) produced alternating current (AC) voltage from direct current (DC) source to control speed of three-phase induction motor from boost converter output. Results showed that, the output power of solar module is optimized and controlled by using fuzzy logic controller. Besides that, the three-phase induction motor can be drive and control using VSI switching by the PWM signal generated by the fuzzy logic controller. This concluded that the non-linear system can be controlled and used in driving three-phase induction motor.

Experimental comparison of conventional and nonlinear model-based control of a mixing tank

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Haeggblom, K.E.

1993-11-01

In this case study concerning control of a laboratory-scale mixing tank, conventional multiloop single-input single-output (SISO) control is compared with model-based'' control where the nonlinearity and multivariable characteristics of the process are explicitly taken into account. It is shown, especially if the operating range of the process is large, that the two outputs (level and temperature) cannot be adequately controlled by multiloop SISO control even if gain scheduling is used. By nonlinear multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) control, on the other hand, very good control performance is obtained. The basic approach to nonlinear control used in this study is first to transformmore » the process into a globally linear and decoupled system, and then to design controllers for this system. Because of the properties of the resulting MIMO system, the controller design is very easy. Two nonlinear control system designs based on a steady-state and a dynamic model, respectively, are considered. In the dynamic case, both setpoint tracking and disturbance rejection can be addressed separately.« less

36 CFR § 1193.43 - Output, display, and control functions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... functions. § 1193.43 Section § 1193.43 Parks, Forests, and Public Property ARCHITECTURAL AND... Accessibility and Usability § 1193.43 Output, display, and control functions. All information necessary to... amplification, increased signal-to-noise ratio, or combination). For transmitted voice signals, provide a gain...

Engine speed control apparatus

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ishii, M.; Miyazaki, M.; Nakamura, N.

1986-11-04

This patent describes an engine speed control apparatus. The system comprises an actuator for adjusting an engine speed, a first unit for computing a desired engine speed, a second unit for detecting the actual engine speed, and a third unit for detecting the difference between the outputs of the first and second units. The system also includes a fourth unit for computing a control pulse width for the actuator in accordance with the output of the third unit, a fifth unit for generating a control signal, a sixth unit for driving the actuator in response to the output of themore » fifth unit, and a seventh unit for computing an optimal halt time to interrupt the driving of the actuator. The actuator is driven intermittently in conformity in the control pulse width and the halt time.« less

Observer-based output feedback control of networked control systems with non-uniform sampling and time-varying delay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Su; Chen, Jie; Sun, Jian

2017-10-01

This paper investigates the problem of observer-based output feedback control for networked control systems with non-uniform sampling and time-varying transmission delay. The sampling intervals are assumed to vary within a given interval. The transmission delay belongs to a known interval. A discrete-time model is first established, which contains time-varying delay and norm-bounded uncertainties coming from non-uniform sampling intervals. It is then converted to an interconnection of two subsystems in which the forward channel is delay-free. The scaled small gain theorem is used to derive the stability condition for the closed-loop system. Moreover, the observer-based output feedback controller design method is proposed by utilising a modified cone complementary linearisation algorithm. Finally, numerical examples illustrate the validity and superiority of the proposed method.

Observer-Based Adaptive Neural Network Control for Nonlinear Systems in Nonstrict-Feedback Form.

PubMed

Chen, Bing; Zhang, Huaguang; Lin, Chong

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on the problem of adaptive neural network (NN) control for a class of nonlinear nonstrict-feedback systems via output feedback. A novel adaptive NN backstepping output-feedback control approach is first proposed for nonlinear nonstrict-feedback systems. The monotonicity of system bounding functions and the structure character of radial basis function (RBF) NNs are used to overcome the difficulties that arise from nonstrict-feedback structure. A state observer is constructed to estimate the immeasurable state variables. By combining adaptive backstepping technique with approximation capability of radial basis function NNs, an output-feedback adaptive NN controller is designed through backstepping approach. It is shown that the proposed controller guarantees semiglobal boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop systems. Two examples are used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

The effect of infection-control barriers on the light intensity of light-cure units and depth of cure of composite.

PubMed

Hodson, Nicholas A; Dunne, Stephen M; Pankhurst, Caroline L

2005-04-01

Dental curing lights are vulnerable to contamination with oral fluids during routine intra-oral use. This controlled study aimed to evaluate whether or not disposable transparent barriers placed over the light-guide tip would affect light output intensity or the subsequent depth of cure of a composite restoration. The impact on light intensity emitted from high-, medium- and low-output light-cure units in the presence of two commercially available disposable infection-control barriers was evaluated against a no-barrier control. Power density measurements from the three intensity light-cure units were recorded with a radiometer, then converted to a digital image using an intra-oral camera and values determined using a commercial computer program. For each curing unit, the measurements were repeated on ten separate occasions with each barrier and the control. Depth of cure was evaluated using a scrape test in a natural tooth model. At each level of light output, the two disposable barriers produced a significant reduction in the mean power density readings compared to the no-barrier control (P<0.005). The cure sleeve inhibited light output to a greater extent than either the cling film or the control (P<0.005). Only composite restorations light-activated by the high level unit demonstrated a small but significant decrease in the depth of cure compared to the control (P<0.05). Placing disposable barriers over the light-guide tip reduced the light intensity from all three curing lights. There was no impact on depth of cure except for the high-output light, where a small decrease in cure depth was noted but this was not considered clinically significant. Disposable barriers can be recommended for use with light-cure lights.

Supervisory Control of Discrete Event Systems Modeled by Mealy Automata with Nondeterministic Output Functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ushio, Toshimitsu; Takai, Shigemasa

Supervisory control is a general framework of logical control of discrete event systems. A supervisor assigns a set of control-disabled controllable events based on observed events so that the controlled discrete event system generates specified languages. In conventional supervisory control, it is assumed that observed events are determined by internal events deterministically. But, this assumption does not hold in a discrete event system with sensor errors and a mobile system, where each observed event depends on not only an internal event but also a state just before the occurrence of the internal event. In this paper, we model such a discrete event system by a Mealy automaton with a nondeterministic output function. We introduce two kinds of supervisors: one assigns each control action based on a permissive policy and the other based on an anti-permissive one. We show necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of each supervisor. Moreover, we discuss the relationship between the supervisors in the case that the output function is determinisitic.

Deadbeat Predictive Controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juang, Jer-Nan; Phan, Minh

1997-01-01

Several new computational algorithms are presented to compute the deadbeat predictive control law. The first algorithm makes use of a multi-step-ahead output prediction to compute the control law without explicitly calculating the controllability matrix. The system identification must be performed first and then the predictive control law is designed. The second algorithm uses the input and output data directly to compute the feedback law. It combines the system identification and the predictive control law into one formulation. The third algorithm uses an observable-canonical form realization to design the predictive controller. The relationship between all three algorithms is established through the use of the state-space representation. All algorithms are applicable to multi-input, multi-output systems with disturbance inputs. In addition to the feedback terms, feed forward terms may also be added for disturbance inputs if they are measurable. Although the feedforward terms do not influence the stability of the closed-loop feedback law, they enhance the performance of the controlled system.

Load controller and method to enhance effective capacity of a photovoltaic power supply

DOEpatents

Perez, Richard

2000-01-01

A load controller and method are provided for maximizing effective capacity of a non-controllable, renewable power supply coupled to a variable electrical load also coupled to a conventional power grid. Effective capacity is enhanced by monitoring power output of the renewable supply and loading, and comparing the loading against the power output and a load adjustment threshold determined from an expected peak loading. A value for a load adjustment parameter is calculated by subtracting the renewable supply output and the load adjustment parameter from the current load. This value is then employed to control the variable load in an amount proportional to the value of the load control parameter when the parameter is within a predefined range. By so controlling the load, the effective capacity of the non-controllable, renewable power supply is increased without any attempt at operational feedback control of the renewable supply. The renewable supply may comprise, for example, a photovoltaic power supply or a wind-based power supply.

High power multiple wavelength diode laser stack for DPSSL application without temperature control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Dong; Yin, Xia; Wang, Jingwei; Chen, Shi; Zhan, Yun; Li, Xiaoning; Fan, Yingmin; Liu, Xingsheng

2018-02-01

High power diode laser stack is widely used in pumping solid-state laser for years. Normally an integrated temperature control module is required for stabilizing the output power of solid-state laser, as the output power of the solid-state laser highly depends on the emission wavelength and the wavelength shift of diode lasers according to the temperature changes. However the temperature control module is inconvenient for this application, due to its large dimension, high electric power consumption and extra adding a complicated controlling system. Furthermore, it takes dozens of seconds to stabilize the output power when the laser system is turned on. In this work, a compact hard soldered high power conduction cooled diode laser stack with multiple wavelengths is developed for stabilizing the output power of solid-state laser in a certain temperature range. The stack consists of 5 laser bars with the pitch of 0.43mm. The peak output power of each bar in the diode laser stack reaches as much as 557W and the combined lasing wavelength spectrum profile spans 15nm. The solidstate laser, structured with multiple wavelength diode laser stacks, allows the ambient temperature change of 65°C without suddenly degrading the optical performance.

Integrated inertial stellar attitude sensor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brady, Tye M. (Inventor); Kourepenis, Anthony S. (Inventor); Wyman, Jr., William F. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

An integrated inertial stellar attitude sensor for an aerospace vehicle includes a star camera system, a gyroscope system, a controller system for synchronously integrating an output of said star camera system and an output of said gyroscope system into a stream of data, and a flight computer responsive to said stream of data for determining from the star camera system output and the gyroscope system output the attitude of the aerospace vehicle.

Laser based analysis using a passively Q-switched laser employing analysis electronics and a means for detecting atomic optical emission of the laser media

DOEpatents

Woodruff, Steven D.; Mcintyre, Dustin L.

2016-03-29

A device for Laser based Analysis using a Passively Q-Switched Laser comprising an optical pumping source optically connected to a laser media. The laser media and a Q-switch are positioned between and optically connected to a high reflectivity mirror (HR) and an output coupler (OC) along an optical axis. The output coupler (OC) is optically connected to the output lens along the optical axis. A means for detecting atomic optical emission comprises a filter and a light detector. The optical filter is optically connected to the laser media and the optical detector. A control system is connected to the optical detector and the analysis electronics. The analysis electronics are optically connected to the output lens. The detection of the large scale laser output production triggers the control system to initiate the precise timing and data collection from the detector and analysis.

Investigating output and energy variations and their relationship to delivery QA results using Statistical Process Control for helical tomotherapy.

PubMed

Binny, Diana; Mezzenga, Emilio; Lancaster, Craig M; Trapp, Jamie V; Kairn, Tanya; Crowe, Scott B

2017-06-01

The aims of this study were to investigate machine beam parameters using the TomoTherapy quality assurance (TQA) tool, establish a correlation to patient delivery quality assurance results and to evaluate the relationship between energy variations detected using different TQA modules. TQA daily measurement results from two treatment machines for periods of up to 4years were acquired. Analyses of beam quality, helical and static output variations were made. Variations from planned dose were also analysed using Statistical Process Control (SPC) technique and their relationship to output trends were studied. Energy variations appeared to be one of the contributing factors to delivery output dose seen in the analysis. Ion chamber measurements were reliable indicators of energy and output variations and were linear with patient dose verifications. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computer simulation and design of a three degree-of-freedom shoulder module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Marco, David; Torfason, L.; Tesar, Delbert

1989-01-01

An in-depth kinematic analysis of a three degree of freedom fully-parallel robotic shoulder module is presented. The major goal of the analysis is to determine appropriate link dimensions which will provide a maximized workspace along with desirable input to output velocity and torque amplification. First order kinematic influence coefficients which describe the output velocity properties in terms of actuator motions provide a means to determine suitable geometric dimensions for the device. Through the use of computer simulation, optimal or near optimal link dimensions based on predetermined design criteria are provided for two different structural designs of the mechanism. The first uses three rotational inputs to control the output motion. The second design involves the use of four inputs, actuating any three inputs for a given position of the output link. Alternative actuator placements are examined to determine the most effective approach to control the output motion.

Self-seeded single-frequency solid-state ring laser and system using same

DOEpatents

Dane, C. Brent; Hackel, Lloyd; Harris, Fritz B.

2007-02-20

A method of operating a laser to obtain an output pulse having a single wavelength, comprises inducing an intracavity loss into a laser resonator having an amount that prevents oscillation during a time that energy from the pump source is being stored in the gain medium. Gain is built up in the gain medium with energy from the pump source until formation of a single-frequency relaxation oscillation pulse in the resonator. Upon detection of the onset of the relaxation oscillation pulse, the intracavity loss is reduced, such as by Q-switching, so that the built-up gain stored in the gain medium is output from the resonator in the form of an output pulse at a single frequency. An electronically controllable output coupler is controlled to affect output pulse characteristics. The laser acts a master oscillator in a master oscillator power amplifier configuration. The laser is used for laser peening.

Self-seeded single-frequency laser peening method

DOEpatents

Dane, C Brent [Livermore, CA; Hackel, Lloyd [Livermore, CA; Harris, Fritz B [Rocklin, CA

2009-08-11

A method of operating a laser to obtain an output pulse having a single wavelength, comprises inducing an intracavity loss into a laser resonator having an amount that prevents oscillation during a time that energy from the pump source is being stored in the gain medium. Gain is built up in the gain medium with energy from the pump source until formation of a single-frequency relaxation oscillation pulse in the resonator. Upon detection of the onset of the relaxation oscillation pulse, the intracavity loss is reduced, such as by Q-switching, so that the built-up gain stored in the gain medium is output from the resonator in the form of an output pulse at a single frequency. An electronically controllable output coupler is controlled to affect output pulse characteristics. The laser acts a master oscillator in a master oscillator power amplifier configuration. The laser is used for laser peening.

Self-seeded single-frequency laser peening method

DOEpatents

DAne, C Brent; Hackey, Lloyd A; Harris, Fritz B

2012-06-26

A method of operating a laser to obtain an output pulse having a single wavelength, comprises inducing an intracavity loss into a laser resonator having an amount that prevents oscillation during a time that energy from the pump source is being stored in the gain medium. Gain is built up in the gain medium with energy from the pump source until formation of a single-frequency relaxation oscillation pulse in the resonator. Upon detection of the onset of the relaxation oscillation pulse, the intracavity loss is reduced, such as by Q-switching, so that the built-up gain stored in the gain medium is output from the resonator in the form of an output pulse at a single frequency. An electronically controllable output coupler is controlled to affect output pulse characteristics. The laser acts a master oscillator in a master oscillator power amplifier configuration. The laser is used for laser peening.

Pulsed phase locked loop strain monitor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Froggatt, Mark E. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

A pulse phase locked loop system according to the present invention is described. A frequency generator such as a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) generates an output signal and a reference signal having a frequency equal to that of the output signal. A transmitting gate gates the output frequency signal and this gated signal drives a transmitting transducer which transmits an acoustic wave through a material. A sample/hold samples a signal indicative of the transmitted wave which is received by a receiving transducer. Divide-by-n counters control these gating and sampling functions in response to the reference signal of the frequency generator. Specifically, the output signal is gated at a rate of F/h, wherein F is the frequency of the output signal and h is an integer; and the received signal is sampled at a delay of F/n wherein n is an integer.

Space Fence PDR Concept Development Phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haines, L.; Phu, P.

2011-09-01

The Space Fence, a major Air Force acquisition program, will become the dominant low-earth orbit uncued sensor in the space surveillance network (SSN). Its primary objective is to provide a 24/7 un-cued capability to find, fix, and track small objects in low earth orbit to include emerging and evolving threats, as well as the rapidly growing population of orbital debris. Composed of up to two geographically dispersed large-scale S-band phased array radars, this new system-of-systems concept will provide comprehensive Space Situational Awareness through net-centric operations and integrated decision support. Additionally, this program will facilitate cost saving force structure changes in the SSN, specifically including the decommissioning of very-high frequency VHF Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS). The Space Fence Program Office entered a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) concept development phase in January 2011 to achieve the delivery of the Initial Operational Capability (IOC) expected in FY17. Two contractors were awarded to perform preliminary system design, conduct radar performance analyses and evaluations, and develop a functional PDR radar system prototype. The key objectives for the Phase A PDR effort are to reduce Space Fence total program technical, cost, schedule, and performance risk. The overall program objective is to achieve a preliminary design that demonstrates sufficient technical and manufacturing maturity and that represents a low risk, affordable approach to meet the Space Fence Technical Requirements Document (TRD) requirements for the final development and production phase to begin in 3QFY12. This paper provides an overview of the revised Space Fence program acquisition strategy for the Phase-A PDR phase to IOC, the overall program milestones and major technical efforts. In addition, the key system trade studies and modeling/simulation efforts undertaken during the System Design Requirement (SDR) phase to address and mitigate technical challenges of the Space Fence System will also be discussed. Examples include radar system optimization studies, modeling and simulation for system performance assessment, investigation of innovative Astrodynamics algorithms for initial orbit determination and observation correlation.

Cardiovascular screening of Olympic athletes reported by chief medical officers of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

PubMed

Toresdahl, Brett G; Asif, Irfan M; Rodeo, Scott A; Ling, Daphne I; Chang, Cindy J

2018-05-24

The IOC recommends periodic cardiovascular screening of athletes, but the adoption of these recommendations is unknown. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate and compare cardiovascular screening practices of countries participating in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. A list of chief medical officers (CMOs) was compiled by the IOC during the 2016 Olympic Games. CMOs were requested to complete an online survey about cardiovascular screening of their countries' Olympic athletes. Comparisons of screening practices were made by categorising countries by continent, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and size of athlete delegation. CMOs for 117/207 (56.5%) countries participating in the 2016 Olympic Games were identified. 94/117 countries (80.3%) completed the survey, representing 45.4% of all countries and 8805/11 358 (77.5%) of all 2016 Olympic athletes. Most of the countries surveyed (70.2%) perform annual cardiovascular screening. Among the survey respondents, all or most athletes from each country were screened at least once with the following components: personal history (86.2% of countries), family history (85.1%), physical examination (87.2%), resting ECG (74.5%), echocardiogram (31.9%) and stress test (30.8%). Athletes were more likely to be screened with ECG in countries with relatively larger athlete delegation (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.10 to 3.80, p=0.023) and with higher GDP per capita (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.11 to 2.57, p=0.014). Most of the responding countries perform annual cardiovascular screening of Olympic athletes, but there are differences in the components used. Athletes from countries with larger athlete delegations and higher GDP per capita were more likely to be screened with ECG. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Adaptive Data-based Predictive Control for Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barlow, Jonathan Spencer; Acosta, Diana Michelle; Phan, Minh Q.

2010-01-01

Data-based Predictive Control is an emerging control method that stems from Model Predictive Control (MPC). MPC computes current control action based on a prediction of the system output a number of time steps into the future and is generally derived from a known model of the system. Data-based predictive control has the advantage of deriving predictive models and controller gains from input-output data. Thus, a controller can be designed from the outputs of complex simulation code or a physical system where no explicit model exists. If the output data happens to be corrupted by periodic disturbances, the designed controller will also have the built-in ability to reject these disturbances without the need to know them. When data-based predictive control is implemented online, it becomes a version of adaptive control. The characteristics of adaptive data-based predictive control are particularly appropriate for the control of nonlinear and time-varying systems, such as Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) aircraft. STOL is a capability of interest to NASA because conceptual Cruise Efficient Short Take-off and Landing (CESTOL) transport aircraft offer the ability to reduce congestion in the terminal area by utilizing existing shorter runways at airports, as well as to lower community noise by flying steep approach and climb-out patterns that reduce the noise footprint of the aircraft. In this study, adaptive data-based predictive control is implemented as an integrated flight-propulsion controller for the outer-loop control of a CESTOL-type aircraft. Results show that the controller successfully tracks velocity while attempting to maintain a constant flight path angle, using longitudinal command, thrust and flap setting as the control inputs.

Mathematical models of the simplest fuzzy PI/PD controllers with skewed input and output fuzzy sets.

PubMed

Mohan, B M; Sinha, Arpita

2008-07-01

This paper unveils mathematical models for fuzzy PI/PD controllers which employ two skewed fuzzy sets for each of the two-input variables and three skewed fuzzy sets for the output variable. The basic constituents of these models are Gamma-type and L-type membership functions for each input, trapezoidal/triangular membership functions for output, intersection/algebraic product triangular norm, maximum/drastic sum triangular conorm, Mamdani minimum/Larsen product/drastic product inference method, and center of sums defuzzification method. The existing simplest fuzzy PI/PD controller structures derived via symmetrical fuzzy sets become special cases of the mathematical models revealed in this paper. Finally, a numerical example along with its simulation results are included to demonstrate the effectiveness of the simplest fuzzy PI controllers.

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING A NUCLEAR REACTOR

DOEpatents

Wilson, V.C.; Overbeck, W.P.; Slotin, L.; Froman, D.K.

1957-12-17

This patent relates to nuclear reactors of the type using a solid neutron absorbing material as a means for controlling the reproduction ratio of the system and thereby the power output. Elongated rods of neutron absorbing material, such as boron steel for example, are adapted to be inserted and removed from the core of tae reactor by electronic motors and suitable drive means. The motors and drive means are controlled by means responsive to the neutron density, such as ionization chambers. The control system is designed to be responsive also to the rate of change in neutron density to automatically maintain the total power output at a substantially constant predetermined value. A safety rod means responsive to neutron density is also provided for keeping the power output below a predetermined maximum value at all times.

High-frequency matrix converter with square wave input

DOEpatents

Carr, Joseph Alexander; Balda, Juan Carlos

2015-03-31

A device for producing an alternating current output voltage from a high-frequency, square-wave input voltage comprising, high-frequency, square-wave input a matrix converter and a control system. The matrix converter comprises a plurality of electrical switches. The high-frequency input and the matrix converter are electrically connected to each other. The control system is connected to each switch of the matrix converter. The control system is electrically connected to the input of the matrix converter. The control system is configured to operate each electrical switch of the matrix converter converting a high-frequency, square-wave input voltage across the first input port of the matrix converter and the second input port of the matrix converter to an alternating current output voltage at the output of the matrix converter.

Performance of the HIMAC beam control system using multiple-energy synchrotron operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mizushima, K.; Furukawa, T.; Iwata, Y.; Hara, Y.; Saotome, N.; Saraya, Y.; Tansho, R.; Sato, S.; Fujimoto, T.; Shirai, T.; Noda, K.

2017-09-01

Multiple-energy synchrotron operation was developed to realize fast 3D scanning irradiation for carbon-ion radiotherapy. This type of operation can output various carbon-ion beams with different energies in a single synchrotron cycle. The beam control system used in this kind of operation was developed to quickly provide the beam energy and intensity required from the irradiation control system. The performance of the system was verified by experimental tests. The system could output beams of 197 different energies in 63 s. The beam intensity could be controlled for all the output beams without large ripples or overshooting. The experimental test of irradiation for prostate cancer treatment was also successfully performed, and the test results proved that our system can greatly reduce the irradiation time.

Development of model reference adaptive control theory for electric power plant control applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mabius, L.E.

1982-09-15

The scope of this effort includes the theoretical development of a multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) Model Reference Control (MRC) algorithm, (i.e., model following control law), Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) algorithm and the formulation of a nonlinear model of a typical electric power plant. Previous single-input, single-output MRAC algorithm designs have been generalized to MIMO MRAC designs using the MIMO MRC algorithm. This MRC algorithm, which has been developed using Command Generator Tracker methodologies, represents the steady state behavior (in the adaptive sense) of the MRAC algorithm. The MRC algorithm is a fundamental component in the MRAC design and stability analysis.more » An enhanced MRC algorithm, which has been developed for systems with more controls than regulated outputs, alleviates the MRC stability constraint of stable plant transmission zeroes. The nonlinear power plant model is based on the Cromby model with the addition of a governor valve management algorithm, turbine dynamics and turbine interactions with extraction flows. An application of the MRC algorithm to a linearization of this model demonstrates its applicability to power plant systems. In particular, the generated power changes at 7% per minute while throttle pressure and temperature, reheat temperature and drum level are held constant with a reasonable level of control. The enhanced algorithm reduces significantly control fluctuations without modifying the output response.« less