Composite Intelligent Learning Control of Strict-Feedback Systems With Disturbance.

PubMed

Xu, Bin; Sun, Fuchun

2018-02-01

This paper addresses the dynamic surface control of uncertain nonlinear systems on the basis of composite intelligent learning and disturbance observer in presence of unknown system nonlinearity and time-varying disturbance. The serial-parallel estimation model with intelligent approximation and disturbance estimation is built to obtain the prediction error and in this way the composite law for weights updating is constructed. The nonlinear disturbance observer is developed using intelligent approximation information while the disturbance estimation is guaranteed to converge to a bounded compact set. The highlight is that different from previous work directly toward asymptotic stability, the transparency of the intelligent approximation and disturbance estimation is included in the control scheme. The uniformly ultimate boundedness stability is analyzed via Lyapunov method. Through simulation verification, the composite intelligent learning with disturbance observer can efficiently estimate the effect caused by system nonlinearity and disturbance while the proposed approach obtains better performance with higher accuracy.

Neural-network-observer-based optimal control for unknown nonlinear systems using adaptive dynamic programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Derong; Huang, Yuzhu; Wang, Ding; Wei, Qinglai

2013-09-01

In this paper, an observer-based optimal control scheme is developed for unknown nonlinear systems using adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) algorithm. First, a neural-network (NN) observer is designed to estimate system states. Then, based on the observed states, a neuro-controller is constructed via ADP method to obtain the optimal control. In this design, two NN structures are used: a three-layer NN is used to construct the observer which can be applied to systems with higher degrees of nonlinearity and without a priori knowledge of system dynamics, and a critic NN is employed to approximate the value function. The optimal control law is computed using the critic NN and the observer NN. Uniform ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system is guaranteed. The actor, critic, and observer structures are all implemented in real-time, continuously and simultaneously. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Tracking control of air-breathing hypersonic vehicles with non-affine dynamics via improved neural back-stepping design.

PubMed

Bu, Xiangwei; He, Guangjun; Wang, Ke

2018-04-01

This study considers the design of a new back-stepping control approach for air-breathing hypersonic vehicle (AHV) non-affine models via neural approximation. The AHV's non-affine dynamics is decomposed into velocity subsystem and altitude subsystem to be controlled separately, and robust adaptive tracking control laws are developed using improved back-stepping designs. Neural networks are applied to estimate the unknown non-affine dynamics, which guarantees the addressed controllers with satisfactory robustness against uncertainties. In comparison with the existing control methodologies, the special contributions are that the non-affine issue is handled by constructing two low-pass filters based on model transformations, and virtual controllers are treated as intermediate variables such that they aren't needed for back-stepping designs any more. Lyapunov techniques are employed to show the uniformly ultimately boundedness of all closed-loop signals. Finally, simulation results are presented to verify the tracking performance and superiorities of the investigated control strategy. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adaptive critic designs for optimal control of uncertain nonlinear systems with unmatched interconnections.

PubMed

Yang, Xiong; He, Haibo

2018-05-26

In this paper, we develop a novel optimal control strategy for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with unmatched interconnections. To begin with, we present a stabilizing feedback controller for the interconnected nonlinear systems by modifying an array of optimal control laws of auxiliary subsystems. We also prove that this feedback controller ensures a specified cost function to achieve optimality. Then, under the framework of adaptive critic designs, we use critic networks to solve the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations associated with auxiliary subsystem optimal control laws. The critic network weights are tuned through the gradient descent method combined with an additional stabilizing term. By using the newly established weight tuning rules, we no longer need the initial admissible control condition. In addition, we demonstrate that all signals in the closed-loop auxiliary subsystems are stable in the sense of uniform ultimate boundedness by using classic Lyapunov techniques. Finally, we provide an interconnected nonlinear plant to validate the present control scheme. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adaptive Fuzzy Bounded Control for Consensus of Multiple Strict-Feedback Nonlinear Systems.

PubMed

Wang, Wei; Tong, Shaocheng

2018-02-01

This paper studies the adaptive fuzzy bounded control problem for leader-follower multiagent systems, where each follower is modeled by the uncertain nonlinear strict-feedback system. Combining the fuzzy approximation with the dynamic surface control, an adaptive fuzzy control scheme is developed to guarantee the output consensus of all agents under directed communication topologies. Different from the existing results, the bounds of the control inputs are known as a priori, and they can be determined by the feedback control gains. To realize smooth and fast learning, a predictor is introduced to estimate each error surface, and the corresponding predictor error is employed to learn the optimal fuzzy parameter vector. It is proved that the developed adaptive fuzzy control scheme guarantees the uniformly ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop systems, and the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood of the origin. The simulation results and comparisons are provided to show the validity of the control strategy presented in this paper.

Deterministic and Stochastic Analysis of a Prey-Dependent Predator-Prey System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maiti, Alakes; Samanta, G. P.

2005-01-01

This paper reports on studies of the deterministic and stochastic behaviours of a predator-prey system with prey-dependent response function. The first part of the paper deals with the deterministic analysis of uniform boundedness, permanence, stability and bifurcation. In the second part the reproductive and mortality factors of the prey and…

Intelligent Control of Flexible-Joint Robotic Manipulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colbaugh, R.; Gallegos, G.

1997-01-01

This paper considers the trajectory tracking problem for uncertain rigid-link. flexible.joint manipulators, and presents a new intelligent controller as a solution to this problem. The proposed control strategy is simple and computationally efficient, requires little information concerning either the manipulator or actuator/transmission models and ensures uniform boundedness of all signals and arbitrarily accurate task-space trajectory tracking.

Stability and square integrability of derivatives of solutions of nonlinear fourth order differential equations with delay.

PubMed

Korkmaz, Erdal

2017-01-01

In this paper, we give sufficient conditions for the boundedness, uniform asymptotic stability and square integrability of the solutions to a certain fourth order non-autonomous differential equations with delay by using Lyapunov's second method. The results obtained essentially improve, include and complement the results in the literature.

Existence and global exponential stability of periodic solution of memristor-based BAM neural networks with time-varying delays.

PubMed

Li, Hongfei; Jiang, Haijun; Hu, Cheng

2016-03-01

In this paper, we investigate a class of memristor-based BAM neural networks with time-varying delays. Under the framework of Filippov solutions, boundedness and ultimate boundedness of solutions of memristor-based BAM neural networks are guaranteed by Chain rule and inequalities technique. Moreover, a new method involving Yoshizawa-like theorem is favorably employed to acquire the existence of periodic solution. By applying the theory of set-valued maps and functional differential inclusions, an available Lyapunov functional and some new testable algebraic criteria are derived for ensuring the uniqueness and global exponential stability of periodic solution of memristor-based BAM neural networks. The obtained results expand and complement some previous work on memristor-based BAM neural networks. Finally, a numerical example is provided to show the applicability and effectiveness of our theoretical results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural-network-based online HJB solution for optimal robust guaranteed cost control of continuous-time uncertain nonlinear systems.

PubMed

Liu, Derong; Wang, Ding; Wang, Fei-Yue; Li, Hongliang; Yang, Xiong

2014-12-01

In this paper, the infinite horizon optimal robust guaranteed cost control of continuous-time uncertain nonlinear systems is investigated using neural-network-based online solution of Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation. By establishing an appropriate bounded function and defining a modified cost function, the optimal robust guaranteed cost control problem is transformed into an optimal control problem. It can be observed that the optimal cost function of the nominal system is nothing but the optimal guaranteed cost of the original uncertain system. A critic neural network is constructed to facilitate the solution of the modified HJB equation corresponding to the nominal system. More importantly, an additional stabilizing term is introduced for helping to verify the stability, which reinforces the updating process of the weight vector and reduces the requirement of an initial stabilizing control. The uniform ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system is analyzed by using the Lyapunov approach as well. Two simulation examples are provided to verify the effectiveness of the present control approach.

A composite controller for trajectory tracking applied to the Furuta pendulum.

PubMed

Aguilar-Avelar, Carlos; Moreno-Valenzuela, Javier

2015-07-01

In this paper, a new composite scheme is proposed, where the total control action is composed of the sum of a feedback-linearization-based controller and an energy-based compensation. This new proposition is applied to the rotary inverted pendulum or Furuta pendulum. The Furuta pendulum is a well-known underactuated mechanical system with two degrees of freedom. The control objective in this case is the tracking of a desired periodic trajectory in the actuated joint, while the unactuated link is regulated at the upward position. The closed-loop system is analyzed showing uniformly ultimately boundedness of the error trajectories. The design procedure is shown in a constructive form, such that it may be applied to other underactuated mechanical systems, with the proper definitions of the output function and the energy function. Numerical simulations and real-time experiments show the practical viability of the controller. Finally, the proposed algorithm is compared with a tracking controller previously reported in the literature. The new algorithm shows better performance in both arm trajectory tracking and pendulum regulation. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adaptive Neural Output-Feedback Control for a Class of Nonlower Triangular Nonlinear Systems With Unmodeled Dynamics.

PubMed

Wang, Huanqing; Liu, Peter Xiaoping; Li, Shuai; Wang, Ding

2017-08-29

This paper presents the development of an adaptive neural controller for a class of nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and immeasurable states. An observer is designed to estimate system states. The structure consistency of virtual control signals and the variable partition technique are combined to overcome the difficulties appearing in a nonlower triangular form. An adaptive neural output-feedback controller is developed based on the backstepping technique and the universal approximation property of the radial basis function (RBF) neural networks. By using the Lyapunov stability analysis, the semiglobally and uniformly ultimate boundedness of all signals within the closed-loop system is guaranteed. The simulation results show that the controlled system converges quickly, and all the signals are bounded. This paper is novel at least in the two aspects: 1) an output-feedback control strategy is developed for a class of nonlower triangular nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and 2) the nonlinear disturbances and their bounds are the functions of all states, which is in a more general form than existing results.

Output Feedback-Based Boundary Control of Uncertain Coupled Semilinear Parabolic PDE Using Neurodynamic Programming.

PubMed

Talaei, Behzad; Jagannathan, Sarangapani; Singler, John

2018-04-01

In this paper, neurodynamic programming-based output feedback boundary control of distributed parameter systems governed by uncertain coupled semilinear parabolic partial differential equations (PDEs) under Neumann or Dirichlet boundary control conditions is introduced. First, Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation is formulated in the original PDE domain and the optimal control policy is derived using the value functional as the solution of the HJB equation. Subsequently, a novel observer is developed to estimate the system states given the uncertain nonlinearity in PDE dynamics and measured outputs. Consequently, the suboptimal boundary control policy is obtained by forward-in-time estimation of the value functional using a neural network (NN)-based online approximator and estimated state vector obtained from the NN observer. Novel adaptive tuning laws in continuous time are proposed for learning the value functional online to satisfy the HJB equation along system trajectories while ensuring the closed-loop stability. Local uniformly ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system is verified by using Lyapunov theory. The performance of the proposed controller is verified via simulation on an unstable coupled diffusion reaction process.

Reinforcement learning controller design for affine nonlinear discrete-time systems using online approximators.

PubMed

Yang, Qinmin; Jagannathan, Sarangapani

2012-04-01

In this paper, reinforcement learning state- and output-feedback-based adaptive critic controller designs are proposed by using the online approximators (OLAs) for a general multi-input and multioutput affine unknown nonlinear discretetime systems in the presence of bounded disturbances. The proposed controller design has two entities, an action network that is designed to produce optimal signal and a critic network that evaluates the performance of the action network. The critic estimates the cost-to-go function which is tuned online using recursive equations derived from heuristic dynamic programming. Here, neural networks (NNs) are used both for the action and critic whereas any OLAs, such as radial basis functions, splines, fuzzy logic, etc., can be utilized. For the output-feedback counterpart, an additional NN is designated as the observer to estimate the unavailable system states, and thus, separation principle is not required. The NN weight tuning laws for the controller schemes are also derived while ensuring uniform ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system using Lyapunov theory. Finally, the effectiveness of the two controllers is tested in simulation on a pendulum balancing system and a two-link robotic arm system.

Decentralized Adaptive Neural Output-Feedback DSC for Switched Large-Scale Nonlinear Systems.

PubMed

Lijun Long; Jun Zhao

2017-04-01

In this paper, for a class of switched large-scale uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown control coefficients and unmeasurable states, a switched-dynamic-surface-based decentralized adaptive neural output-feedback control approach is developed. The approach proposed extends the classical dynamic surface control (DSC) technique for nonswitched version to switched version by designing switched first-order filters, which overcomes the problem of multiple "explosion of complexity." Also, a dual common coordinates transformation of all subsystems is exploited to avoid individual coordinate transformations for subsystems that are required when applying the backstepping recursive design scheme. Nussbaum-type functions are utilized to handle the unknown control coefficients, and a switched neural network observer is constructed to estimate the unmeasurable states. Combining with the average dwell time method and backstepping and the DSC technique, decentralized adaptive neural controllers of subsystems are explicitly designed. It is proved that the approach provided can guarantee the semiglobal uniformly ultimately boundedness for all the signals in the closed-loop system under a class of switching signals with average dwell time, and the tracking errors to a small neighborhood of the origin. A two inverted pendulums system is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method proposed.

Switched-Observer-Based Adaptive Neural Control of MIMO Switched Nonlinear Systems With Unknown Control Gains.

PubMed

Long, Lijun; Zhao, Jun

2017-07-01

In this paper, the problem of adaptive neural output-feedback control is addressed for a class of multi-input multioutput (MIMO) switched uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown control gains. Neural networks (NNs) are used to approximate unknown nonlinear functions. In order to avoid the conservativeness caused by adoption of a common observer for all subsystems, an MIMO NN switched observer is designed to estimate unmeasurable states. A new switched observer-based adaptive neural control technique for the problem studied is then provided by exploiting the classical average dwell time (ADT) method and the backstepping method and the Nussbaum gain technique. It effectively handles the obstacle about the coexistence of multiple Nussbaum-type function terms, and improves the classical ADT method, since the exponential decline property of Lyapunov functions for individual subsystems is no longer satisfied. It is shown that the technique proposed is able to guarantee semiglobal uniformly ultimately boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system under a class of switching signals with ADT, and the tracking errors converge to a small neighborhood of the origin. The effectiveness of the approach proposed is illustrated by its application to a two inverted pendulum system.

Reinforcement learning neural-network-based controller for nonlinear discrete-time systems with input constraints.

PubMed

He, Pingan; Jagannathan, S

2007-04-01

A novel adaptive-critic-based neural network (NN) controller in discrete time is designed to deliver a desired tracking performance for a class of nonlinear systems in the presence of actuator constraints. The constraints of the actuator are treated in the controller design as the saturation nonlinearity. The adaptive critic NN controller architecture based on state feedback includes two NNs: the critic NN is used to approximate the "strategic" utility function, whereas the action NN is employed to minimize both the strategic utility function and the unknown nonlinear dynamic estimation errors. The critic and action NN weight updates are derived by minimizing certain quadratic performance indexes. Using the Lyapunov approach and with novel weight updates, the uniformly ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop tracking error and weight estimates is shown in the presence of NN approximation errors and bounded unknown disturbances. The proposed NN controller works in the presence of multiple nonlinearities, unlike other schemes that normally approximate one nonlinearity. Moreover, the adaptive critic NN controller does not require an explicit offline training phase, and the NN weights can be initialized at zero or random. Simulation results justify the theoretical analysis.

A class of generalized Ginzburg-Landau equations with random switching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Zheng; Yin, George; Lei, Dongxia

2018-09-01

This paper focuses on a class of generalized Ginzburg-Landau equations with random switching. In our formulation, the nonlinear term is allowed to have higher polynomial growth rate than the usual cubic polynomials. The random switching is modeled by a continuous-time Markov chain with a finite state space. First, an explicit solution is obtained. Then properties such as stochastic-ultimate boundedness and permanence of the solution processes are investigated. Finally, two-time-scale models are examined leading to a reduction of complexity.

Global boundedness of solutions to a two-species chemotaxis system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qingshan; Li, Yuxiang

2015-02-01

In this paper, we consider the chemotaxis system of two species which are attracted by the same signal substance under homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions in a smooth bounded domain . We prove that if the nonnegative initial data and for some r > n, the system possesses a unique global uniformly bounded solution under some conditions on the chemotaxis sensitivity functions χ 1( w), χ 2( w) and the logistic growth coefficients μ 1, μ 2.

Complex dynamics of a new 3D Lorenz-type autonomous chaotic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Fuchen; Liao, Xiaofeng; Zhang, Guangyun; Mu, Chunlai

2017-12-01

This paper investigates a new three-dimensional continuous quadratic autonomous chaotic system which is not topologically equivalent to the Lorenz system. The dynamical behaviours of this system are further investigated in detail, including the ultimate boundedness, the invariant sets and the global attraction domain according to Lyapunov stability theory of dynamical systems. The innovation of the paper lies in the fact that this paper not only proves this chaotic system is globally bounded for the parameters of this system but also gives a family of mathematical expressions of global exponential attractive sets with respect to the parameters of this system. To validate the ultimate bound estimation, numerical simulations are also investigated. Numerical simulations verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the theoretical scheme.

Boundary Control of Linear Uncertain 1-D Parabolic PDE Using Approximate Dynamic Programming.

PubMed

Talaei, Behzad; Jagannathan, Sarangapani; Singler, John

2018-04-01

This paper develops a near optimal boundary control method for distributed parameter systems governed by uncertain linear 1-D parabolic partial differential equations (PDE) by using approximate dynamic programming. A quadratic surface integral is proposed to express the optimal cost functional for the infinite-dimensional state space. Accordingly, the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation is formulated in the infinite-dimensional domain without using any model reduction. Subsequently, a neural network identifier is developed to estimate the unknown spatially varying coefficient in PDE dynamics. Novel tuning law is proposed to guarantee the boundedness of identifier approximation error in the PDE domain. A radial basis network (RBN) is subsequently proposed to generate an approximate solution for the optimal surface kernel function online. The tuning law for near optimal RBN weights is created, such that the HJB equation error is minimized while the dynamics are identified and closed-loop system remains stable. Ultimate boundedness (UB) of the closed-loop system is verified by using the Lyapunov theory. The performance of the proposed controller is successfully confirmed by simulation on an unstable diffusion-reaction process.

Approximation-based adaptive tracking control of pure-feedback nonlinear systems with multiple unknown time-varying delays.

PubMed

Wang, Min; Ge, Shuzhi Sam; Hong, Keum-Shik

2010-11-01

This paper presents adaptive neural tracking control for a class of non-affine pure-feedback systems with multiple unknown state time-varying delays. To overcome the design difficulty from non-affine structure of pure-feedback system, mean value theorem is exploited to deduce affine appearance of state variables x(i) as virtual controls α(i), and of the actual control u. The separation technique is introduced to decompose unknown functions of all time-varying delayed states into a series of continuous functions of each delayed state. The novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals are employed to compensate for the unknown functions of current delayed state, which is effectively free from any restriction on unknown time-delay functions and overcomes the circular construction of controller caused by the neural approximation of a function of u and [Formula: see text] . Novel continuous functions are introduced to overcome the design difficulty deduced from the use of one adaptive parameter. To achieve uniformly ultimate boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system and tracking performance, control gains are effectively modified as a dynamic form with a class of even function, which makes stability analysis be carried out at the present of multiple time-varying delays. Simulation studies are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Robust adaptive control for a hybrid solid oxide fuel cell system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snyder, Steven

2011-12-01

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are electrochemical energy conversion devices. They offer a number of advantages beyond those of most other fuel cells due to their high operating temperature (800-1000°C), such as internal reforming, heat as a byproduct, and faster reaction kinetics without precious metal catalysts. Mitigating fuel starvation and improving load-following capabilities of SOFC systems are conflicting control objectives. However, this can be resolved by the hybridization of the system with an energy storage device, such as an ultra-capacitor. In this thesis, a steady-state property of the SOFC is combined with an input-shaping method in order to address the issue of fuel starvation. Simultaneously, an overall adaptive system control strategy is employed to manage the energy sharing between the elements as well as to maintain the state-of-charge of the energy storage device. The adaptive control method is robust to errors in the fuel cell's fuel supply system and guarantees that the fuel cell current and ultra-capacitor state-of-charge approach their target values and remain uniformly, ultimately bounded about these target values. Parameter saturation is employed to guarantee boundedness of the parameters. The controller is validated through hardware-in-the-loop experiments as well as computer simulations.

Optimal harvesting of a stochastic delay logistic model with Lévy jumps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiu, Hong; Deng, Wenmin

2016-10-01

The optimal harvesting problem of a stochastic time delay logistic model with Lévy jumps is considered in this article. We first show that the model has a unique global positive solution and discuss the uniform boundedness of its pth moment with harvesting. Then we prove that the system is globally attractive and asymptotically stable in distribution under our assumptions. Furthermore, we obtain the existence of the optimal harvesting effort by the ergodic method, and then we give the explicit expression of the optimal harvesting policy and maximum yield.

Positive effects of repulsion on boundedness in a fully parabolic attraction-repulsion chemotaxis system with logistic source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wei; Zhuang, Mengdi; Zheng, Sining

2018-02-01

In this paper we study the global boundedness of solutions to the fully parabolic attraction-repulsion chemotaxis system with logistic source: ut = Δu - χ∇ ṡ (u∇v) + ξ∇ ṡ (u∇w) + f (u), vt = Δv - βv + αu, wt = Δw - δw + γu, subject to homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions in a bounded and smooth domain Ω ⊂Rn (n ≥ 1), where χ, α, ξ, γ, β and δ are positive constants, and f : R → R is a smooth function generalizing the logistic source f (s) = a - bsθ for all s ≥ 0 with a ≥ 0, b > 0 and θ ≥ 1. It is shown that when the repulsion cancels the attraction (i.e. χα = ξγ), the solution is globally bounded if n ≤ 3, or θ >θn : = min ⁡ {n+2}/4, n/√{n2 + 6 n + 17 }/-n2 - 3 n + 4 4 } with n ≥ 2. Therefore, due to the inhibition of repulsion to the attraction, in any spatial dimension, the exponent θ is allowed to take values less than 2 such that the solution is uniformly bounded in time.

Global solutions to a class of multi-species reaction-diffusion systems with cross-diffusions arising in population dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen, Zijuan; Fu, Shengmao

2009-08-01

In this paper, an n-species strongly coupled cooperating diffusive system is considered in a bounded smooth domain, subject to homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions. Employing the method of energy estimates, we obtain some conditions on the diffusion matrix and inter-specific cooperatives to ensure the global existence and uniform boundedness of a nonnegative solution. The globally asymptotical stability of the constant positive steady state is also discussed. As a consequence, all the results hold true for multi-species Lotka-Volterra type competition model and prey-predator model.

Bifurcation Analysis and Optimal Harvesting of a Delayed Predator-Prey Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tchinda Mouofo, P.; Djidjou Demasse, R.; Tewa, J. J.; Aziz-Alaoui, M. A.

A delay predator-prey model is formulated with continuous threshold prey harvesting and Holling response function of type III. Global qualitative and bifurcation analyses are combined to determine the global dynamics of the model. The positive invariance of the non-negative orthant is proved and the uniform boundedness of the trajectories. Stability of equilibria is investigated and the existence of some local bifurcations is established: saddle-node bifurcation, Hopf bifurcation. We use optimal control theory to provide the correct approach to natural resource management. Results are also obtained for optimal harvesting. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate the results.

Stability of multiloop LQ regulators with nonlinearities. I - Regions of attraction. II - Regions of ultimate boundedness

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joshi, S. M.

1986-01-01

An investigation is conducted for the closed loop stability of linear time-invariant systems controlled by linear quadratic (LQ) regulators, in cases where nonlinearities exist in the control channels lying outside the stability sector in regions away from the origin. The estimate of the region of attraction thus obtained furnishes methods for the selection of performance function weights for more robust LQ designs. Attention is then given to the closed loop stability of linear time-invariant systems controlled by the LQ regulators when the nonlinearities in the loops escape the stability sector in a bounded region containing the origin.

Absolute Value Boundedness, Operator Decomposition, and Stochastic Media and Equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adomian, G.; Miao, C. C.

1973-01-01

The research accomplished during this period is reported. Published abstracts and technical reports are listed. Articles presented include: boundedness of absolute values of generalized Fourier coefficients, propagation in stochastic media, and stationary conditions for stochastic differential equations.

Decentralized adaptive control of robot manipulators with robust stabilization design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yuan, Bau-San; Book, Wayne J.

1988-01-01

Due to geometric nonlinearities and complex dynamics, a decentralized technique for adaptive control for multilink robot arms is attractive. Lyapunov-function theory for stability analysis provides an approach to robust stabilization. Each joint of the arm is treated as a component subsystem. The adaptive controller is made locally stable with servo signals including proportional and integral gains. This results in the bound on the dynamical interactions with other subsystems. A nonlinear controller which stabilizes the system with uniform boundedness is used to improve the robustness properties of the overall system. As a result, the robot tracks the reference trajectories with convergence. This strategy makes computation simple and therefore facilitates real-time implementation.

A nonlinear control method based on ANFIS and multiple models for a class of SISO nonlinear systems and its application.

PubMed

Zhang, Yajun; Chai, Tianyou; Wang, Hong

2011-11-01

This paper presents a novel nonlinear control strategy for a class of uncertain single-input and single-output discrete-time nonlinear systems with unstable zero-dynamics. The proposed method combines adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) with multiple models, where a linear robust controller, an ANFIS-based nonlinear controller and a switching mechanism are integrated using multiple models technique. It has been shown that the linear controller can ensure the boundedness of the input and output signals and the nonlinear controller can improve the dynamic performance of the closed loop system. Moreover, it has also been shown that the use of the switching mechanism can simultaneously guarantee the closed loop stability and improve its performance. As a result, the controller has the following three outstanding features compared with existing control strategies. First, this method relaxes the assumption of commonly-used uniform boundedness on the unmodeled dynamics and thus enhances its applicability. Second, since ANFIS is used to estimate and compensate the effect caused by the unmodeled dynamics, the convergence rate of neural network learning has been increased. Third, a "one-to-one mapping" technique is adapted to guarantee the universal approximation property of ANFIS. The proposed controller is applied to a numerical example and a pulverizing process of an alumina sintering system, respectively, where its effectiveness has been justified.

The Energy Measure for the Euler and Navier-Stokes Equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leslie, Trevor M.; Shvydkoy, Roman

2018-04-01

The potential failure of energy equality for a solution u of the Euler or Navier-Stokes equations can be quantified using a so-called `energy measure': the weak-* limit of the measures {|u(t)|^2dx} as t approaches the first possible blowup time. We show that membership of u in certain (weak or strong) {L^q L^p} classes gives a uniform lower bound on the lower local dimension of E ; more precisely, it implies uniform boundedness of a certain upper s-density of E . We also define and give lower bounds on the `concentration dimension' associated to E , which is the Hausdorff dimension of the smallest set on which energy can concentrate. Both the lower local dimension and the concentration dimension of E measure the departure from energy equality. As an application of our estimates, we prove that any solution to the 3-dimensional Navier-Stokes Equations which is Type-I in time must satisfy the energy equality at the first blowup time.

Boundedness and global robust stability analysis of delayed complex-valued neural networks with interval parameter uncertainties.

PubMed

Song, Qiankun; Yu, Qinqin; Zhao, Zhenjiang; Liu, Yurong; Alsaadi, Fuad E

2018-07-01

In this paper, the boundedness and robust stability for a class of delayed complex-valued neural networks with interval parameter uncertainties are investigated. By using Homomorphic mapping theorem, Lyapunov method and inequality techniques, sufficient condition to guarantee the boundedness of networks and the existence, uniqueness and global robust stability of equilibrium point is derived for the considered uncertain neural networks. The obtained robust stability criterion is expressed in complex-valued LMI, which can be calculated numerically using YALMIP with solver of SDPT3 in MATLAB. An example with simulations is supplied to show the applicability and advantages of the acquired result. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Riesz potential and its commutators on Orlicz spaces.

PubMed

Guliyev, Vagif S; Deringoz, Fatih; Hasanov, Sabir G

2017-01-01

In the present paper, we shall give necessary and sufficient conditions for the strong and weak boundedness of the Riesz potential operator [Formula: see text] on Orlicz spaces. Cianchi (J. Lond. Math. Soc. 60(1):247-286, 2011) found necessary and sufficient conditions on general Young functions Φ and Ψ ensuring that this operator is of weak or strong type from [Formula: see text] into [Formula: see text]. Our characterizations for the boundedness of the above-mentioned operator are different from the ones in (Cianchi in J. Lond. Math. Soc. 60(1):247-286, 2011). As an application of these results, we consider the boundedness of the commutators of Riesz potential operator [Formula: see text] on Orlicz spaces when b belongs to the BMO and Lipschitz spaces, respectively.

Effect of Multiple Delays in an Eco-Epidemiological Model with Strong Allee Effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Kakali; Biswas, Santanu; Samanta, Sudip; Tiwari, Pankaj Kumar; Alshomrani, Ali Saleh; Chattopadhyay, Joydev

In the present article, we make an attempt to investigate the effect of two time delays, logistic delay and gestation delay, on an eco-epidemiological model. In the proposed model, strong Allee effect is considered in the growth term of the prey population. We incorporate two time lags and inspect elementary mathematical characteristic of the proposed model such as boundedness, uniform persistence, stability and Hopf-bifurcation for all possible combinations of both delays at the interior equilibrium point of the system. We observe that increase in gestation delay leads to chaotic solutions through the limit cycle. We also observe that the Allee effect play a major role in controlling the chaos. We execute several numerical simulations to illustrate the proposed mathematical model and our analytical findings.

Stability of uncertain systems. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blankenship, G. L.

1971-01-01

The asymptotic properties of feedback systems are discussed, containing uncertain parameters and subjected to stochastic perturbations. The approach is functional analytic in flavor and thereby avoids the use of Markov techniques and auxiliary Lyapunov functionals characteristic of the existing work in this area. The results are given for the probability distributions of the accessible signals in the system and are proved using the Prohorov theory of the convergence of measures. For general nonlinear systems, a result similar to the small loop-gain theorem of deterministic stability theory is given. Boundedness is a property of the induced distributions of the signals and not the usual notion of boundedness in norm. For the special class of feedback systems formed by the cascade of a white noise, a sector nonlinearity and convolution operator conditions are given to insure the total boundedness of the overall feedback system.

Reinforcement-learning-based dual-control methodology for complex nonlinear discrete-time systems with application to spark engine EGR operation.

PubMed

Shih, Peter; Kaul, Brian C; Jagannathan, S; Drallmeier, James A

2008-08-01

A novel reinforcement-learning-based dual-control methodology adaptive neural network (NN) controller is developed to deliver a desired tracking performance for a class of complex feedback nonlinear discrete-time systems, which consists of a second-order nonlinear discrete-time system in nonstrict feedback form and an affine nonlinear discrete-time system, in the presence of bounded and unknown disturbances. For example, the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) operation of a spark ignition (SI) engine is modeled by using such a complex nonlinear discrete-time system. A dual-controller approach is undertaken where primary adaptive critic NN controller is designed for the nonstrict feedback nonlinear discrete-time system whereas the secondary one for the affine nonlinear discrete-time system but the controllers together offer the desired performance. The primary adaptive critic NN controller includes an NN observer for estimating the states and output, an NN critic, and two action NNs for generating virtual control and actual control inputs for the nonstrict feedback nonlinear discrete-time system, whereas an additional critic NN and an action NN are included for the affine nonlinear discrete-time system by assuming the state availability. All NN weights adapt online towards minimization of a certain performance index, utilizing gradient-descent-based rule. Using Lyapunov theory, the uniformly ultimate boundedness (UUB) of the closed-loop tracking error, weight estimates, and observer estimates are shown. The adaptive critic NN controller performance is evaluated on an SI engine operating with high EGR levels where the controller objective is to reduce cyclic dispersion in heat release while minimizing fuel intake. Simulation and experimental results indicate that engine out emissions drop significantly at 20% EGR due to reduction in dispersion in heat release thus verifying the dual-control approach.

An FEM-based AI approach to model parameter identification for low vibration modes of wind turbine composite rotor blades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navadeh, N.; Goroshko, I. O.; Zhuk, Y. A.; Fallah, A. S.

2017-11-01

An approach to construction of a beam-type simplified model of a horizontal axis wind turbine composite blade based on the finite element method is proposed. The model allows effective and accurate description of low vibration bending modes taking into account the effects of coupling between flapwise and lead-lag modes of vibration transpiring due to the non-uniform distribution of twist angle in the blade geometry along its length. The identification of model parameters is carried out on the basis of modal data obtained by more detailed finite element simulations and subsequent adoption of the 'DIRECT' optimisation algorithm. Stable identification results were obtained using absolute deviations in frequencies and in modal displacements in the objective function and additional a priori information (boundedness and monotony) on the solution properties.

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.

Boundedness and global stability of the two-predator and one-prey models with nonlinear prey-taxis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jianping; Wang, Mingxin

2018-06-01

This paper concerns the reaction-diffusion systems modeling the population dynamics of two predators and one prey with nonlinear prey-taxis. We first investigate the global existence and boundedness of the unique classical solution for the general model. Then, we study the global stabilities of nonnegative spatially homogeneous equilibria for an explicit system with type I functional responses and density-dependent death rates for the predators and logistic growth for the prey. Moreover, the convergence rates are also established.

Accommodating Sensor Bias in MRAC for State Tracking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patre, Parag; Joshi, Suresh M.

2011-01-01

The problem of accommodating unknown sensor bias is considered in a direct model reference adaptive control (MRAC) setting for state tracking using state feedback. Sensor faults can occur during operation, and if the biased state measurements are directly used with a standard MRAC control law, neither closed-loop signal boundedness, nor asymptotic tracking can be guaranteed and the resulting tracking errors may be unbounded or unacceptably large. A modified MRAC law is proposed, which combines a bias estimator with control gain adaptation, and it is shown that signal boundedness can be accomplished, although the tracking error may not go to zero. Further, for the case wherein an asymptotically stable sensor bias estimator is available, an MRAC control law is proposed to accomplish asymptotic tracking and signal boundedness. Such a sensor bias estimator can be designed if additional sensor measurements are available, as illustrated for the case wherein bias is present in the rate gyro and airspeed measurements. Numerical example results are presented to illustrate each of the schemes.

Adaptive Control in the Presence of Simultaneous Sensor Bias and Actuator Failures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Joshi, Suresh M.

2012-01-01

The problem of simultaneously accommodating unknown sensor biases and unknown actuator failures in uncertain systems is considered in a direct model reference adaptive control (MRAC) setting for state tracking using state feedback. Sensor biases and actuator faults may be present at the outset or may occur at unknown instants of time during operation. A modified MRAC law is proposed, which combines sensor bias estimation with control gain adaptation for accommodation of sensor biases and actuator failures. This control law is shown to provide signal boundedness in the resulting system. For the case when an external asymptotically stable sensor bias estimator is available, an MRAC law is developed to accomplish asymptotic state tracking and signal boundedness. For a special case wherein biases are only present in the rate measurements and bias-free position measurements are available, an MRAC law is developed using a model-independent bias estimator, and is shown to provide asymptotic state tracking with signal boundedness.

Adaptive NN control for discrete-time pure-feedback systems with unknown control direction under amplitude and rate actuator constraints.

PubMed

Chen, Weisheng

2009-07-01

This paper focuses on the problem of adaptive neural network tracking control for a class of discrete-time pure-feedback systems with unknown control direction under amplitude and rate actuator constraints. Two novel state-feedback and output-feedback dynamic control laws are established where the function tanh(.) is employed to solve the saturation constraint problem. Implicit function theorem and mean value theorem are exploited to deal with non-affine variables that are used as actual control. Radial basis function neural networks are used to approximate the desired input function. Discrete Nussbaum gain is used to estimate the unknown sign of control gain. The uniform boundedness of all closed-loop signals is guaranteed. The tracking error is proved to converge to a small residual set around the origin. A simulation example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of control schemes proposed in this paper.

Termination Proofs for String Rewriting Systems via Inverse Match-Bounds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, Ricky (Technical Monitor); Geser, Alfons; Hofbauer, Dieter; Waldmann, Johannes

2004-01-01

Annotating a letter by a number, one can record information about its history during a reduction. A string rewriting system is called match-bounded if there is a global upper bound to these numbers. In earlier papers we established match-boundedness as a strong sufficient criterion for both termination and preservation of regular languages. We show now that the string rewriting system whose inverse (left and right hand sides exchanged) is match-bounded, also have exceptional properties, but slightly different ones. Inverse match-bounded systems effectively preserve context-free languages; their sets of normalized strings and their sets of immortal strings are effectively regular. These sets of strings can be used to decide the normalization, the termination and the uniform termination problems of inverse match-bounded systems. We also show that the termination problem is decidable in linear time, and that a certain strong reachability problem is deciable, thus solving two open problems of McNaughton's.

Finite-time resilient decentralized control for interconnected impulsive switched systems with neutral delay.

PubMed

Ren, Hangli; Zong, Guangdeng; Hou, Linlin; Yang, Yi

2017-03-01

This paper is concerned with the problem of finite-time control for a class of interconnected impulsive switched systems with neutral delay in which the time-varying delay appears in both the state and the state derivative. The concepts of finite-time boundedness and finite-time stability are respectively extended to interconnected impulsive switched systems with neutral delay for the first time. By applying the average dwell time method, sufficient conditions are first derived to cope with the problem of finite-time boundedness and finite-time stability for interconnected impulsive switched systems with neutral delay. In addition, the purpose of finite-time resilient decentralized control is to construct a resilient decentralized state-feedback controller such that the closed-loop system is finite-time bounded and finite-time stable. All the conditions are formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities to ensure finite-time boundedness and finite-time stability of the given system. Finally, an example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Boundedness, Mittag-Leffler stability and asymptotical ω-periodicity of fractional-order fuzzy neural networks.

PubMed

Wu, Ailong; Zeng, Zhigang

2016-02-01

We show that the ω-periodic fractional-order fuzzy neural networks cannot generate non-constant ω-periodic signals. In addition, several sufficient conditions are obtained to ascertain the boundedness and global Mittag-Leffler stability of fractional-order fuzzy neural networks. Furthermore, S-asymptotical ω-periodicity and global asymptotical ω-periodicity of fractional-order fuzzy neural networks is also characterized. The obtained criteria improve and extend the existing related results. To illustrate and compare the theoretical criteria, some numerical examples with simulation results are discussed in detail. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global boundedness in a quasilinear chemotaxis system with general density-signal governed sensitivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Wei; Ding, Mengyao; Li, Yan

2017-09-01

In this paper we study the global boundedness of solutions to the quasilinear parabolic chemotaxis system: ut = ∇ ṡ (D (u) ∇u - S (u) ∇φ (v)), 0 = Δv - v + u, subject to homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions and the initial data u0 in a bounded and smooth domain Ω ⊂Rn (n ≥ 2), where the diffusivity D (u) is supposed to satisfy D (u) ≥a0(u + 1) - α with a0 > 0 and α ∈ R, while the density-signal governed sensitivity fulfills 0 ≤ S (u) ≤b0(u + 1) β and 0 <φ‧ (v) ≤χ/vk for b0 , χ > 0 and β , k ∈ R. It is shown that the solution is globally bounded if α + β < (1 -2/n) k +2/n with n ≥ 3 and k < 1, or α + β < 1 for k ≥ 1. This implies that the large k benefits the global boundedness of solutions due to the weaker chemotactic migration of the signal-dependent sensitivity at high signal concentrations. Moreover, when α + β arrives at the critical value, we establish the global boundedness of solutions for the coefficient χ properly small. It should be emphasized that the smallness of χ under k > 1 is positively related to the total cellular mass ∫Ωu0 dx, which is attributed to the stronger singularity of φ (v) at v = 0 for k > 1 and the fact that v can be estimated from below by a multiple of ∫Ωu0 dx. In addition, distinctive phenomena concerning this model are observed by comparison with the known results.

Sliding mode disturbance observer-based control of a twin rotor MIMO system.

PubMed

Rashad, Ramy; El-Badawy, Ayman; Aboudonia, Ahmed

2017-07-01

This work proposes a robust tracking controller for a helicopter laboratory setup known as the twin rotor MIMO system (TRMS) using an integral sliding mode controller. To eliminate the discontinuity in the control signal, the controller is augmented by a sliding mode disturbance observer. The actuator dynamics is handled using a backstepping approach which is applicable due to the continuous chattering-free nature of the command signals generated using the disturbance observer based controller. To avoid the complexity of analytically differentiating the command signals, a first order sliding mode differentiator is used. Stability analysis of the closed loop system and the ultimate boundedness of the tracking error is proved using Lyapunov stability arguments. The proposed controller is validated by several simulation studies and is compared to other schemes in the literature. Experimental results using a hardware-in-the-loop system validate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed controller. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Stability of semidiscrete approximations for hyperbolic initial-boundary-value problems: An eigenvalue analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warming, Robert F.; Beam, Richard M.

1986-01-01

A hyperbolic initial-boundary-value problem can be approximated by a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) by replacing the spatial derivatives by finite-difference approximations. The resulting system of ODEs is called a semidiscrete approximation. A complication is the fact that more boundary conditions are required for the spatially discrete approximation than are specified for the partial differential equation. Consequently, additional numerical boundary conditions are required and improper treatment of these additional conditions can lead to instability. For a linear initial-boundary-value problem (IBVP) with homogeneous analytical boundary conditions, the semidiscrete approximation results in a system of ODEs of the form du/dt = Au whose solution can be written as u(t) = exp(At)u(O). Lax-Richtmyer stability requires that the matrix norm of exp(At) be uniformly bounded for O less than or = t less than or = T independent of the spatial mesh size. Although the classical Lax-Richtmyer stability definition involves a conventional vector norm, there is no known algebraic test for the uniform boundedness of the matrix norm of exp(At) for hyperbolic IBVPs. An alternative but more complicated stability definition is used in the theory developed by Gustafsson, Kreiss, and Sundstrom (GKS). The two methods are compared.

Error estimates of Lagrange interpolation and orthonormal expansions for Freud weights

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, K. H.; Lee, D. W.

2001-08-01

Let Sn[f] be the nth partial sum of the orthonormal polynomials expansion with respect to a Freud weight. Then we obtain sufficient conditions for the boundedness of Sn[f] and discuss the speed of the convergence of Sn[f] in weighted Lp space. We also find sufficient conditions for the boundedness of the Lagrange interpolation polynomial Ln[f], whose nodal points are the zeros of orthonormal polynomials with respect to a Freud weight. In particular, if W(x)=e-(1/2)x2 is the Hermite weight function, then we obtain sufficient conditions for the inequalities to hold:andwhere and k=0,1,2...,r.

An Optimal Control Modification to Model-Reference Adaptive Control for Fast Adaptation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Nhan T.; Krishnakumar, Kalmanje; Boskovic, Jovan

2008-01-01

This paper presents a method that can achieve fast adaptation for a class of model-reference adaptive control. It is well-known that standard model-reference adaptive control exhibits high-gain control behaviors when a large adaptive gain is used to achieve fast adaptation in order to reduce tracking error rapidly. High gain control creates high-frequency oscillations that can excite unmodeled dynamics and can lead to instability. The fast adaptation approach is based on the minimization of the squares of the tracking error, which is formulated as an optimal control problem. The necessary condition of optimality is used to derive an adaptive law using the gradient method. This adaptive law is shown to result in uniform boundedness of the tracking error by means of the Lyapunov s direct method. Furthermore, this adaptive law allows a large adaptive gain to be used without causing undesired high-gain control effects. The method is shown to be more robust than standard model-reference adaptive control. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Distributed adaptive asymptotically consensus tracking control of uncertain Euler-Lagrange systems under directed graph condition.

PubMed

Wang, Wei; Wen, Changyun; Huang, Jiangshuai; Fan, Huijin

2017-11-01

In this paper, a backstepping based distributed adaptive control scheme is proposed for multiple uncertain Euler-Lagrange systems under directed graph condition. The common desired trajectory is allowed totally unknown by part of the subsystems and the linearly parameterized trajectory model assumed in currently available results is no longer needed. To compensate the effects due to unknown trajectory information, a smooth function of consensus errors and certain positive integrable functions are introduced in designing virtual control inputs. Besides, to overcome the difficulty of completely counteracting the coupling terms of distributed consensus errors and parameter estimation errors in the presence of asymmetric Laplacian matrix, extra information transmission of local parameter estimates are introduced among linked subsystem and adaptive gain technique is adopted to generate distributed torque inputs. It is shown that with the proposed distributed adaptive control scheme, global uniform boundedness of all the closed-loop signals and asymptotically output consensus tracking can be achieved. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Deciding Termination for Ancestor Match- Bounded String Rewriting Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Geser, Alfons; Hofbauer, Dieter; Waldmann, Johannes

2005-01-01

Termination of a string rewriting system can be characterized by termination on suitable recursively defined languages. This kind of termination criteria has been criticized for its lack of automation. In an earlier paper we have shown how to construct an automated termination criterion if the recursion is aligned with the rewrite relation. We have demonstrated the technique with Dershowitz's forward closure criterion. In this paper we show that a different approach is suitable when the recursion is aligned with the inverse of the rewrite relation. We apply this idea to Kurth's ancestor graphs and obtain ancestor match-bounded string rewriting systems. Termination is shown to be decidable for this class. The resulting method improves upon those based on match-boundedness or inverse match-boundedness.

Boundedness of the solutions for certain classes of fractional differential equations with application to adaptive systems.

PubMed

Aguila-Camacho, Norelys; Duarte-Mermoud, Manuel A

2016-01-01

This paper presents the analysis of three classes of fractional differential equations appearing in the field of fractional adaptive systems, for the case when the fractional order is in the interval α ∈(0,1] and the Caputo definition for fractional derivatives is used. The boundedness of the solutions is proved for all three cases, and the convergence to zero of the mean value of one of the variables is also proved. Applications of the obtained results to fractional adaptive schemes in the context of identification and control problems are presented at the end of the paper, including numerical simulations which support the analytical results. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Criteria on global boundedness versus finite time blow-up to a two-species chemotaxis system with two chemicals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Hao; Wang, Wei; Zheng, Sining

2018-02-01

This paper considers the two-species chemotaxis system with two chemicals in a smooth bounded domain Ω\\subset{R}2 , subject to the non-flux boundary condition, and χ, ξ, α, β, γ, δ>0 . We obtain a blow-up criterion that if m_1m_2-2π(\\frac{m_1}χβ+\\frac{m_2}ξδ)>0 , then there exist finite time blow-up solutions to the system with m_1:=\\int_Ω u_0(x)dx and m_2:=\\int_Ω w_0(x)dx . When χ=ξ= β=δ=1 , the blow-up criterion becomes m_1m_2-2π(m_1+m_2)>0 , and the global boundedness of solutions is furthermore established with α=γ=1 under the condition that \\max\\{m_1, m_2\\}<4π . This improves the current results for finite time blow-up with \\min\\{m_1, m_2\\}>4π and global boundedness with \\max\\{m_1, m_2\\}<\\frac{4}{C_GN} respectively in Tao and Winkler (2015 Discrete Contin. Dyn. Syst. Ser. B 20 3165-83) Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11171048), the Science Foundation of Liaoning Education Department grant (LYB201601) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (DUT16LK24).

Boundedness of the solution of a higher-dimensional parabolic-ODE-parabolic chemotaxis-haptotaxis model with generalized logistic source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Jiashan

2017-05-01

This paper deals with a quasilinear chemotaxis-haptotaxis system with generalized logistic source {ut=∇ṡ(ϕ(u)∇u)-∇ṡ(u∇v)-∇ṡ(u∇w)+u(1-ur-1-w),vt=Δv-v+u,wt=-vw, under homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions in a smooth bounded domain {{{R}}N}(N≥slant 3) , with parameter r  >  1, where the given function φ (u) is the nonlinear diffusion. Besides appropriate smoothness assumptions, in this paper it is only required that φ (u)≥slant {{C}φ}(u+1){{}m-1} for all u≥slant 0 with some {{C}φ}>0 and some m{>2-2N if 11+(N+2-2r)+N+2 if N+22⩾r⩾N+2N,⩾1 if r>N+22. It is shown that then for all reasonably regular initial data, a corresponding initial-boundary value problem for (0.1) possesses a unique global classical solution that is uniformly bounded in Ω × (0,∞ ) .

Boundedness in a quasilinear fully parabolic Keller-Segel system with logistic source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qingshan; Li, Yuxiang

2015-10-01

This paper deals with the Neumann boundary value problem for the system u_t = nabla \\cdot (D(u) nabla u) - nabla \\cdot (S(u) nabla v) + f(u), &quad x in Ω, t > 0, v_t = Δ v - v + u, &quad x in Ω, t > 0 in a smooth bounded domain {Ωsubset{{R}}^n} {(n≥1)}, where the functions D( u) and S( u) are supposed to be smooth satisfying {D(u)≥ Mu^{-α}} and {S(u)≤ Mu^{β}} with M > 0, {αin{{R}}} and {βin{{R}}} for all {u≥1}, and the logistic source f( u) is smooth fulfilling {f(0)≥0} as well as {f(u)≤ a-μ u^{γ}} with {a≥0}, {μ > 0} and {γ≥1} for all {u≥0}. It is shown that if α + 2β < γ - 1 + 2/n, &quad for 1 ≤ γ < 2, γ - 1 + 4/n + 2, &quad for γ ≥ 2, then for sufficiently smooth initial data, the problem possesses a unique global classical solution which is uniformly bounded.

Dynamical behaviours and control measures of rumour-spreading model with consideration of network topology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Linhe; Zhao, Hongyong

2017-07-01

A series of online rumours have seriously influenced the normal production and living of people. This paper aims to study the combined impact of psychological factor, propagation delay, network topology and control strategy on rumour diffusion over the online social networks. Based on an online social network, which is seen as a scale-free network, we model the spread of rumours by using a delayed SIS (Susceptible and Infected) epidemic-like model with consideration of psychological factor and network topology. First, through theoretical analysis, we illustrate the boundedness of the density of rumour-susceptible individuals and rumour-infected individuals. Second, we obtain the basic reproduction number R0 and prove the stability of the non-rumour equilibrium point and the rumour-spreading equilibrium point. Third, control strategies, such as uniform immunisation control, proportional immunisation control, targeted immunisation control and optimum control, are put forward to restrain rumour diffusion. Meanwhile, we have compared the differences of these control strategies. Finally, some representative numerical simulations are performed to verify the theoretical analysis results.

Ultimate intra-wafer critical dimension uniformity control by using lithography and etch tool corrections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubis, Michael; Wise, Rich; Reijnen, Liesbeth; Viatkina, Katja; Jaenen, Patrick; Luca, Melisa; Mernier, Guillaume; Chahine, Charlotte; Hellin, David; Kam, Benjamin; Sobieski, Daniel; Vertommen, Johan; Mulkens, Jan; Dusa, Mircea; Dixit, Girish; Shamma, Nader; Leray, Philippe

2016-03-01

With shrinking design rules, the overall patterning requirements are getting aggressively tighter. For the 7-nm node and below, allowable CD uniformity variations are entering the Angstrom region (ref [1]). Optimizing inter- and intra-field CD uniformity of the final pattern requires a holistic tuning of all process steps. In previous work, CD control with either litho cluster or etch tool corrections has been discussed. Today, we present a holistic CD control approach, combining the correction capability of the etch tool with the correction capability of the exposure tool. The study is done on 10-nm logic node wafers, processed with a test vehicle stack patterning sequence. We include wafer-to-wafer and lot-to-lot variation and apply optical scatterometry to characterize the fingerprints. Making use of all available correction capabilities (lithography and etch), we investigated single application of exposure tool corrections and of etch tool corrections as well as combinations of both to reach the lowest CD uniformity. Results of the final pattern uniformity based on single and combined corrections are shown. We conclude on the application of this holistic lithography and etch optimization to 7nm High-Volume manufacturing, paving the way to ultimate within-wafer CD uniformity control.

Effect of load eccentricity and substructure deformation on ultimate strength of shuttle orbiter thermal protection system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sawyer, J. W.

1981-01-01

The effect of load eccentricity and substructure deformation on the ultimate strength and stress displacement properties of the shuttle orbiter thermal protection system (TPS) was determined. The LI-900 Reusable Surface Insulation (RSI) tiles mounted on the .41 cm thick Strain Isolator Pad (SIP) were investigated. Substructure deformations reduce the ultimate strength of the SIP/tile TPS and increase the scatter in the ultimate strength data. Substructure deformations that occur unsymmetric to the tile can cause the tile to rotate when subjected to a uniform applied load. Load eccentricity reduces SIP/tile TPS ultimate strength and causes tile rotation.

Near Optimal Event-Triggered Control of Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems Using Neurodynamic Programming.

PubMed

Sahoo, Avimanyu; Xu, Hao; Jagannathan, Sarangapani

2016-09-01

This paper presents an event-triggered near optimal control of uncertain nonlinear discrete-time systems. Event-driven neurodynamic programming (NDP) is utilized to design the control policy. A neural network (NN)-based identifier, with event-based state and input vectors, is utilized to learn the system dynamics. An actor-critic framework is used to learn the cost function and the optimal control input. The NN weights of the identifier, the critic, and the actor NNs are tuned aperiodically once every triggered instant. An adaptive event-trigger condition to decide the trigger instants is derived. Thus, a suitable number of events are generated to ensure a desired accuracy of approximation. A near optimal performance is achieved without using value and/or policy iterations. A detailed analysis of nontrivial inter-event times with an explicit formula to show the reduction in computation is also derived. The Lyapunov technique is used in conjunction with the event-trigger condition to guarantee the ultimate boundedness of the closed-loop system. The simulation results are included to verify the performance of the controller. The net result is the development of event-driven NDP.

Guidelines To Provide Uniform Wiring Service for Telecommunications in North Carolina Public Schools. Version 1.1.0.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

North Carolina State Dept. of Public Instruction, Raleigh.

The purpose of these guidelines, intended for the North Carolina public school administrator, the building architect, and the builder, is to facilitate the planning and installation of uniform wiring in a building regardless of the type of equipment that will ultimately be installed. This approach will allow for flexibility in curriculum…

a Bounded Finite-Difference Discretization of a Two-Dimensional Diffusion Equation with Logistic Nonlinear Reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macías-Díaz, J. E.

In the present manuscript, we introduce a finite-difference scheme to approximate solutions of the two-dimensional version of Fisher's equation from population dynamics, which is a model for which the existence of traveling-wave fronts bounded within (0,1) is a well-known fact. The method presented here is a nonstandard technique which, in the linear regime, approximates the solutions of the original model with a consistency of second order in space and first order in time. The theory of M-matrices is employed here in order to elucidate conditions under which the method is able to preserve the positivity and the boundedness of solutions. In fact, our main result establishes relatively flexible conditions under which the preservation of the positivity and the boundedness of new approximations is guaranteed. Some simulations of the propagation of a traveling-wave solution confirm the analytical results derived in this work; moreover, the experiments evince a good agreement between the numerical result and the analytical solutions.

Analysis of Online Composite Mirror Descent Algorithm.

PubMed

Lei, Yunwen; Zhou, Ding-Xuan

2017-03-01

We study the convergence of the online composite mirror descent algorithm, which involves a mirror map to reflect the geometry of the data and a convex objective function consisting of a loss and a regularizer possibly inducing sparsity. Our error analysis provides convergence rates in terms of properties of the strongly convex differentiable mirror map and the objective function. For a class of objective functions with Hölder continuous gradients, the convergence rates of the excess (regularized) risk under polynomially decaying step sizes have the order [Formula: see text] after [Formula: see text] iterates. Our results improve the existing error analysis for the online composite mirror descent algorithm by avoiding averaging and removing boundedness assumptions, and they sharpen the existing convergence rates of the last iterate for online gradient descent without any boundedness assumptions. Our methodology mainly depends on a novel error decomposition in terms of an excess Bregman distance, refined analysis of self-bounding properties of the objective function, and the resulting one-step progress bounds.

Applying Chaos Theory to Careers: Attraction and Attractors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pryor, Robert G. L.; Bright, Jim E. H.

2007-01-01

This article presents the Chaos Theory of Careers with particular reference to the concepts of "attraction" and "attractors". Attractors are defined in terms of characteristic trajectories, feedback mechanisms, end states, ordered boundedness, reality visions and equilibrium and fluctuation. The identified types of attractors (point, pendulum,…

Against Structural Constraints in Subject-Verb Agreement Production

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillespie, Maureen; Pearlmutter, Neal J.

2013-01-01

Syntactic structure has been considered an integral component of agreement computation in language production. In agreement error studies, clause-boundedness (Bock & Cutting, 1992) and hierarchical feature-passing (Franck, Vigliocco, & Nicol, 2002) predict that local nouns within clausal modifiers should produce fewer errors than do those within…

Adaptive Neural Network-Based Event-Triggered Control of Single-Input Single-Output Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems.

PubMed

Sahoo, Avimanyu; Xu, Hao; Jagannathan, Sarangapani

2016-01-01

This paper presents a novel adaptive neural network (NN) control of single-input and single-output uncertain nonlinear discrete-time systems under event sampled NN inputs. In this control scheme, the feedback signals are transmitted, and the NN weights are tuned in an aperiodic manner at the event sampled instants. After reviewing the NN approximation property with event sampled inputs, an adaptive state estimator (SE), consisting of linearly parameterized NNs, is utilized to approximate the unknown system dynamics in an event sampled context. The SE is viewed as a model and its approximated dynamics and the state vector, during any two events, are utilized for the event-triggered controller design. An adaptive event-trigger condition is derived by using both the estimated NN weights and a dead-zone operator to determine the event sampling instants. This condition both facilitates the NN approximation and reduces the transmission of feedback signals. The ultimate boundedness of both the NN weight estimation error and the system state vector is demonstrated through the Lyapunov approach. As expected, during an initial online learning phase, events are observed more frequently. Over time with the convergence of the NN weights, the inter-event times increase, thereby lowering the number of triggered events. These claims are illustrated through the simulation results.

Formalization of the Integral Calculus in the PVS Theorem Prover

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, Ricky W.

2004-01-01

The PVS Theorem prover is a widely used formal verification tool used for the analysis of safety-critical systems. The PVS prover, though fully equipped to support deduction in a very general logic framework, namely higher-order logic, it must nevertheless, be augmented with the definitions and associated theorems for every branch of mathematics and Computer Science that is used in a verification. This is a formidable task, ultimately requiring the contributions of researchers and developers all over the world. This paper reports on the formalization of the integral calculus in the PVS theorem prover. All of the basic definitions and theorems covered in a first course on integral calculus have been completed.The theory and proofs were based on Rosenlicht's classic text on real analysis and follow the traditional epsilon-delta method. The goal of this work was to provide a practical set of PVS theories that could be used for verification of hybrid systems that arise in air traffic management systems and other aerospace applications. All of the basic linearity, integrability, boundedness, and continuity properties of the integral calculus were proved. The work culminated in the proof of the Fundamental Theorem Of Calculus. There is a brief discussion about why mechanically checked proofs are so much longer than standard mathematics textbook proofs.

Nonlinear Resonance and Duffing's Spring Equation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fay, Temple H.

2006-01-01

This note discusses the boundary in the frequency--amplitude plane for boundedness of solutions to the forced spring Duffing type equation. For fixed initial conditions and fixed parameter [epsilon] results are reported of a systematic numerical investigation on the global stability of solutions to the initial value problem as the parameters F and…

Some new retarded nonlinear Volterra-Fredholm type integral inequalities with maxima in two variables and their applications.

PubMed

Xu, Run; Ma, Xiangting

2017-01-01

In this paper, we establish some new retarded nonlinear Volterra-Fredholm type integral inequalities with maxima in two independent variables, and we present the applications to research the boundedness of solutions to retarded nonlinear Volterra-Fredholm type integral equations.

Global well-posedness for passively transported nonlinear moisture dynamics with phase changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hittmeir, Sabine; Klein, Rupert; Li, Jinkai; Titi, Edriss S.

2017-10-01

We study a moisture model for warm clouds that has been used by Klein and Majda (2006 Theor. Comput. Fluid Dyn. 20 525-551) as a basis for multiscale asymptotic expansions for deep convective phenomena. These moisture balance equations correspond to a bulk microphysics closure in the spirit of Kessler (1969 Meteorol. Monogr. 10 1-84) and Grabowski and Smolarkiewicz (1996 Mon. Weather Rev. 124 487-97), in which water is present in the gaseous state as water vapor and in the liquid phase as cloud water and rain water. It thereby contains closures for the phase changes condensation and evaporation, as well as the processes of autoconversion of cloud water into rainwater and the collection of cloud water by the falling rain droplets. Phase changes are associated with enormous amounts of latent heat and therefore provide a strong coupling to the thermodynamic equation. In this work we assume the velocity field to be given and prove rigorously the global existence and uniqueness of uniformly bounded solutions of the moisture model with viscosity, diffusion and heat conduction. To guarantee local well-posedness we first need to establish local existence results for linear parabolic equations, subject to the Robin boundary conditions on the cylindric type of domains under consideration. We then derive a priori estimates, for proving the maximum principle, using the Stampacchia method, as well as the iterative method by Alikakos (1979 J. Differ. Equ. 33 201-25) to obtain uniform boundedness. The evaporation term is of power law type, with an exponent in general less or equal to one and therefore making the proof of uniqueness more challenging. However, these difficulties can be circumvented by introducing new unknowns, which satisfy the required cancellation and monotonicity properties in the source terms.

Non-Linear Spring Equations and Stability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fay, Temple H.; Joubert, Stephan V.

2009-01-01

We discuss the boundary in the Poincare phase plane for boundedness of solutions to spring model equations of the form [second derivative of]x + x + epsilonx[superscript 2] = Fcoswt and the [second derivative of]x + x + epsilonx[superscript 3] = Fcoswt and report the results of a systematic numerical investigation on the global stability of…

Nonlinear Resonance and Duffing's Spring Equation II

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fay, T. H.; Joubert, Stephan V.

2007-01-01

The paper discusses the boundary in the frequency-amplitude plane for boundedness of solutions to the forced spring Duffing type equation x[umlaut] + x + [epsilon]x[cubed] = F cos[omega]t. For fixed initial conditions and for representative fixed values of the parameter [epsilon], the results are reported of a systematic numerical investigation…

Match-bounded String Rewriting Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Geser, Alfons; Hofbauer, Dieter; Waldmann, Johannes

2003-01-01

We introduce a new class of automated proof methods for the termination of rewriting systems on strings. The basis of all these methods is to show that rewriting preserves regular languages. To this end, letters are annotated with natural numbers, called match heights. If the minimal height of all positions in a redex is h+1 then every position in the reduct will get height h+1. In a match-bounded system, match heights are globally bounded. Using recent results on deleting systems, we prove that rewriting by a match-bounded system preserves regular languages. Hence it is decidable whether a given rewriting system has a given match bound. We also provide a sufficient criterion for the abence of a match-bound. The problem of existence of a match-bound is still open. Match-boundedness for all strings can be used as an automated criterion for termination, for match-bounded systems are terminating. This criterion can be strengthened by requiring match-boundedness only for a restricted set of strings, for instance the set of right hand sides of forward closures.

Anisotropic Hardy Spaces of Musielak-Orlicz Type with Applications to Boundedness of Sublinear Operators

PubMed Central

Li, Baode; Yang, Dachun; Yuan, Wen

2014-01-01

Let φ : ℝn × [0, ∞)→[0, ∞) be a Musielak-Orlicz function and A an expansive dilation. In this paper, the authors introduce the anisotropic Hardy space of Musielak-Orlicz type, H A φ(ℝn), via the grand maximal function. The authors then obtain some real-variable characterizations of H A φ(ℝn) in terms of the radial, the nontangential, and the tangential maximal functions, which generalize the known results on the anisotropic Hardy space H A p(ℝn) with p ∈ (0,1] and are new even for its weighted variant. Finally, the authors characterize these spaces by anisotropic atomic decompositions. The authors also obtain the finite atomic decomposition characterization of H A φ(ℝn), and, as an application, the authors prove that, for a given admissible triplet (φ, q, s), if T is a sublinear operator and maps all (φ, q, s)-atoms with q < ∞ (or all continuous (φ, q, s)-atoms with q = ∞) into uniformly bounded elements of some quasi-Banach spaces ℬ, then T uniquely extends to a bounded sublinear operator from H A φ(ℝn) to ℬ. These results are new even for anisotropic Orlicz-Hardy spaces on ℝn. PMID:24757418

Nonlinear Decoupling Control With ANFIS-Based Unmodeled Dynamics Compensation for a Class of Complex Industrial Processes.

PubMed

Zhang, Yajun; Chai, Tianyou; Wang, Hong; Wang, Dianhui; Chen, Xinkai

2018-06-01

Complex industrial processes are multivariable and generally exhibit strong coupling among their control loops with heavy nonlinear nature. These make it very difficult to obtain an accurate model. As a result, the conventional and data-driven control methods are difficult to apply. Using a twin-tank level control system as an example, a novel multivariable decoupling control algorithm with adaptive neural-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS)-based unmodeled dynamics (UD) compensation is proposed in this paper for a class of complex industrial processes. At first, a nonlinear multivariable decoupling controller with UD compensation is introduced. Different from the existing methods, the decomposition estimation algorithm using ANFIS is employed to estimate the UD, and the desired estimating and decoupling control effects are achieved. Second, the proposed method does not require the complicated switching mechanism which has been commonly used in the literature. This significantly simplifies the obtained decoupling algorithm and its realization. Third, based on some new lemmas and theorems, the conditions on the stability and convergence of the closed-loop system are analyzed to show the uniform boundedness of all the variables. This is then followed by the summary on experimental tests on a heavily coupled nonlinear twin-tank system that demonstrates the effectiveness and the practicability of the proposed method.

Anisotropic hardy spaces of Musielak-Orlicz type with applications to boundedness of sublinear operators.

PubMed

Li, Baode; Yang, Dachun; Yuan, Wen

2014-01-01

Let φ : ℝ(n) × [0, ∞)→[0, ∞) be a Musielak-Orlicz function and A an expansive dilation. In this paper, the authors introduce the anisotropic Hardy space of Musielak-Orlicz type, H(A)(φ)(ℝ(n)), via the grand maximal function. The authors then obtain some real-variable characterizations of H(A)(φ)(ℝ(n)) in terms of the radial, the nontangential, and the tangential maximal functions, which generalize the known results on the anisotropic Hardy space H(A)(p) (ℝ(n)) with p ∈ (0,1] and are new even for its weighted variant. Finally, the authors characterize these spaces by anisotropic atomic decompositions. The authors also obtain the finite atomic decomposition characterization of H(A)(φ)(ℝ(n)), and, as an application, the authors prove that, for a given admissible triplet (φ, q, s), if T is a sublinear operator and maps all (φ, q, s)-atoms with q < ∞ (or all continuous (φ, q, s)-atoms with q = ∞) into uniformly bounded elements of some quasi-Banach spaces ℬ, then T uniquely extends to a bounded sublinear operator from H(A)(φ)(ℝ(n)) to ℬ. These results are new even for anisotropic Orlicz-Hardy spaces on ℝ(n).

Design of passive interconnections in tall buildings subject to earthquake disturbances to suppress inter-storey drifts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, K.; Smith, MC

2016-09-01

This paper studies the problem of passive control of a multi-storey building subjected to an earthquake disturbance. The building is represented as a homogeneous mass chain model, i.e., a chain of identical masses in which there is an identical passive connection between neighbouring masses and a similar connection to a movable point. The paper considers passive interconnections of the most general type, which may require the use of inerters in addition to springs and dampers. It is shown that the scalar transfer functions from the disturbance to a given inter-storey drift can be represented as complex iterative maps. Using these expressions, two graphical approaches are proposed: one gives a method to achieve a prescribed value for the uniform boundedness of these transfer functions independent of the length of the mass chain, and the other is for a fixed length of the mass chain. A case study is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques using a 10-storey building model. The disturbance suppression performance of the designed interconnection is also verified for a 10-storey building model which has a different stiffness distribution but with the same undamped first natural frequency as the homogeneous model.

Global neural dynamic surface tracking control of strict-feedback systems with application to hypersonic flight vehicle.

PubMed

Xu, Bin; Yang, Chenguang; Pan, Yongping

2015-10-01

This paper studies both indirect and direct global neural control of strict-feedback systems in the presence of unknown dynamics, using the dynamic surface control (DSC) technique in a novel manner. A new switching mechanism is designed to combine an adaptive neural controller in the neural approximation domain, together with the robust controller that pulls the transient states back into the neural approximation domain from the outside. In comparison with the conventional control techniques, which could only achieve semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded stability, the proposed control scheme guarantees all the signals in the closed-loop system are globally uniformly ultimately bounded, such that the conventional constraints on initial conditions of the neural control system can be relaxed. The simulation studies of hypersonic flight vehicle (HFV) are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed global neural DSC design.

On Non-Selective Harvesting of a Multispecies Fishery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kar, Tapan Kuman; Chaudhuri, K. S.

2002-01-01

The present paper deals with the problem of non-selective harvesting of a prey-predator system in which both the prey and the predator species obey the law of logistic growth and each predators functional response to the prey approaches a constant as the prey population increases. Boundedness of the exploited system is examined. The existence of…

Test and Analysis of a Hyper-X Carbon-Carbon Leading Edge Chine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Russell W.; Sikora, Joseph G.; Lindell, Michael C.

2005-01-01

During parts production for the X43A Mach 10 hypersonic vehicle nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of a leading edge chine detected on imbedded delamination near the lower surface of the part. An ultimate proof test was conducted to verify the ultimate strength of this leading edge chine part. The ultimate proof test setup used a pressure bladder design to impose a uniform distributed pressure field over the bi-planar surface of the chine test article. A detailed description of the chine test article and experimental test setup is presented. Analysis results from a linear status model of the test article are also presented and discussed. Post-test inspection of the specimen revealed no visible failures or areas of delamination.

Cyborg Ontologies and the Lecturer's Voice: A Posthuman Reading of the "Face-to-Face"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gourlay, Lesley

2012-01-01

The lecture is often posited as the prototypical "face-to-face" educational encounter, seen as embodying key features of the pre-networked academy. These are implicitly characterised as forms of boundedness or impermeability, in terms of both the physical and temporal context, and the ontological status of the participants and the nature of the…

34 CFR 80.32 - Equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Equipment. 80.32 Section 80.32 Education Office of the Secretary, Department of Education UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS..., the location, use and condition of the property, and any ultimate disposition data including the date...

Cosmological singularity theorems and splitting theorems for N-Bakry-Émery spacetimes

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

Woolgar, Eric, E-mail: ewoolgar@ualberta.ca; Wylie, William, E-mail: wwylie@syr.edu

We study Lorentzian manifolds with a weight function such that the N-Bakry-Émery tensor is bounded below. Such spacetimes arise in the physics of scalar-tensor gravitation theories, including Brans-Dicke theory, theories with Kaluza-Klein dimensional reduction, and low-energy approximations to string theory. In the “pure Bakry-Émery” N = ∞ case with f uniformly bounded above and initial data suitably bounded, cosmological-type singularity theorems are known, as are splitting theorems which determine the geometry of timelike geodesically complete spacetimes for which the bound on the initial data is borderline violated. We extend these results in a number of ways. We are able tomore » extend the singularity theorems to finite N-values N ∈ (n, ∞) and N ∈ (−∞, 1]. In the N ∈ (n, ∞) case, no bound on f is required, while for N ∈ (−∞, 1] and N = ∞, we are able to replace the boundedness of f by a weaker condition on the integral of f along future-inextendible timelike geodesics. The splitting theorems extend similarly, but when N = 1, the splitting is only that of a warped product for all cases considered. A similar limited loss of rigidity has been observed in a prior work on the N-Bakry-Émery curvature in Riemannian signature when N = 1 and appears to be a general feature.« less

Cosmological singularity theorems and splitting theorems for N-Bakry-Émery spacetimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woolgar, Eric; Wylie, William

2016-02-01

We study Lorentzian manifolds with a weight function such that the N-Bakry-Émery tensor is bounded below. Such spacetimes arise in the physics of scalar-tensor gravitation theories, including Brans-Dicke theory, theories with Kaluza-Klein dimensional reduction, and low-energy approximations to string theory. In the "pure Bakry-Émery" N = ∞ case with f uniformly bounded above and initial data suitably bounded, cosmological-type singularity theorems are known, as are splitting theorems which determine the geometry of timelike geodesically complete spacetimes for which the bound on the initial data is borderline violated. We extend these results in a number of ways. We are able to extend the singularity theorems to finite N-values N ∈ (n, ∞) and N ∈ (-∞, 1]. In the N ∈ (n, ∞) case, no bound on f is required, while for N ∈ (-∞, 1] and N = ∞, we are able to replace the boundedness of f by a weaker condition on the integral of f along future-inextendible timelike geodesics. The splitting theorems extend similarly, but when N = 1, the splitting is only that of a warped product for all cases considered. A similar limited loss of rigidity has been observed in a prior work on the N-Bakry-Émery curvature in Riemannian signature when N = 1 and appears to be a general feature.

Effects of conventional welding and laser welding on the tensile strength, ultimate tensile strength and surface characteristics of two cobalt-chromium alloys: a comparative study.

PubMed

Madhan Kumar, Seenivasan; Sethumadhava, Jayesh Raghavendra; Anand Kumar, Vaidyanathan; Manita, Grover

2012-06-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of laser welding and conventional welding on the tensile strength and ultimate tensile strength of the cobalt-chromium alloy. Samples were prepared with two commercially available cobalt-chromium alloys (Wironium plus and Diadur alloy). The samples were sectioned and the broken fragments were joined using Conventional and Laser welding techniques. The welded joints were subjected to tensile and ultimate tensile strength testing; and scanning electron microscope to evaluate the surface characteristics at the welded site. Both on laser welding as well as on conventional welding technique, Diadur alloy samples showed lesser values when tested for tensile and ultimate tensile strength when compared to Wironium alloy samples. Under the scanning electron microscope, the laser welded joints show uniform welding and continuous molt pool all over the surface with less porosity than the conventionally welded joints. Laser welding is an advantageous method of connecting or repairing cast metal prosthetic frameworks.

Dynamic analysis of a stochastic delayed rumor propagation model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Fangju; Lv, Guangying; Wang, Shuangfeng; Zou, Guang-an

2018-02-01

The rapid development of the Internet, especially the emergence of the social networks, has led rumor propagation into a new media era. In this paper, we are concerned with a stochastic delayed rumor propagation model. Firstly, we obtain the existence of the global solution. Secondly, sufficient conditions for extinction of the rumor are established. Lastly, the boundedness of solution is proved and some simulations are given to verify our results.

The spectrum and some subdivisions of the spectrum of discrete generalized Cesàro operators on [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]).

PubMed

Yıldırım, Mustafa; Durna, Nuh

2017-01-01

The discrete generalized Cesàro matrix [Formula: see text] is the triangular matrix with nonzero entries [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text]. In this paper, boundedness, compactness, spectra, the fine spectra and subdivisions of the spectra of discrete generalized Cesàro operator on [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) have been determined.

Husimi coordinates of multipartite separable states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parfionov, Georges; Zapatrin, Romàn R.

2010-12-01

A parametrization of multipartite separable states in a finite-dimensional Hilbert space is suggested. It is proved to be a diffeomorphism between the set of zero-trace operators and the interior of the set of separable density operators. The result is applicable to any tensor product decomposition of the state space. An analytical criterion for separability of density operators is established in terms of the boundedness of a sequence of operators.

Local confinement and bedridden in the context of boundedness - The development of a conceptual definition based on an integrative review

PubMed

Schirghuber, Johannes; Schrems, Berta

2018-04-01

Background: Local confinement and bedridden are important phenomena in nursing care. Nevertheless, conceptual definitions and appropriate nursing diagnoses are missing in the current nursing classification systems. Aim: The aim is to provide the basis for a conceptual definition. To this end, the current state of the German and English usage of the terms local confinement and bedridden are presented. At the same time, definitions of English-language terms, which are internationally widely recognized, are elaborated. Additionally, phenomena associated with local confinement and bedridden are recorded and delimited of each other. Method: The identification of the German and English conceptual usage takes place through an integrative literature review covering the period from 1990 to 2016. Results: There are a variety of English-language terms of location confinement and bedridden. The concepts of homebound, wheelchairbound and bedridden form of local confinement and bedridden most extensively. Instability, immobility is connected as cause and inactivity as a consequence. In contrast to this is bedrest, which is ordered and temporally limited. Conclusions: Local confinement and bedridden are to be viewed through the definition of boundedness. The antecedents (instability, immobility) must be diagnosed to derive adequate interventions to avoid or alleviate the consequences.

Adhesion of voids to bimetal interfaces with non-uniform energies

DOE PAGES

Zheng, Shijian; Shao, Shuai; Zhang, Jian; ...

2015-10-21

Interface engineering has become an important strategy for designing radiation-resistant materials. Critical to its success is fundamental understanding of the interactions between interfaces and radiation-induced defects, such as voids. Using transmission electron microscopy, here we report an interesting phenomenon in their interaction, wherein voids adhere to only one side of the bimetal interfaces rather than overlapping them. We show that this asymmetrical void-interface interaction is a consequence of differing surface energies of the two metals and non-uniformity in their interface formation energy. Specifically, voids grow within the phase of lower surface energy and wet only the high-interface energy regions. Furthermore,more » because this outcome cannot be accounted for by wetting of interfaces with uniform internal energy, our report provides experimental evidence that bimetal interfaces contain non-uniform internal energy distributions. Ultimately, this work also indicates that to design irradiation-resistant materials, we can avoid void-interface overlap via tuning the configurations of interfaces.« less

Variation and oscillation for the multilinear singular integrals satisfying Hörmander type conditions.

PubMed

Xia, Yinhong

2018-01-01

Suppose that the kernel K satisfies a certain Hörmander type condition. Let b be a function satisfying [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text], and let [Formula: see text] be a family of multilinear singular integral operators, i.e., [Formula: see text] The main purpose of this paper is to establish the weighted [Formula: see text]-boundedness of the variation operator and the oscillation operator for [Formula: see text].

Boundedness and almost Periodicity in Time of Solutions of Evolutionary Variational Inequalities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pankov, A. A.

1983-04-01

In this paper existence theorems are obtained for the solutions of abstract parabolic variational inequalities, which are bounded with respect to time (in the Stepanov and L^\\infty norms). The regularity and almost periodicity properties of such solutions are studied. Theorems are also established concerning their solvability in spaces of Besicovitch almost periodic functions. The majority of the results are obtained without any compactness assumptions. Bibliography: 30 titles.

Modelling and properties of a nonlinear autonomous switching system in fed-batch culture of glycerol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Juan; Sun, Qingying; Feng, Enmin

2012-11-01

A nonlinear autonomous switching system is proposed to describe the coupled fed-batch fermentation with the pH as the feedback parameter. We prove the non-Zeno behaviors of the switching system and some basic properties of its solution, including the existence, uniqueness, boundedness and regularity. Numerical simulation is also carried out, which reveals that the proposed system can describe the factual fermentation process properly.

Hybrid slab-microchannel gel electrophoresis system

DOEpatents

Balch, Joseph W.; Carrano, Anthony V.; Davidson, James C.; Koo, Jackson C.

1998-01-01

A hybrid slab-microchannel gel electrophoresis system. The hybrid system permits the fabrication of isolated microchannels for biomolecule separations without imposing the constraint of a totally sealed system. The hybrid system is reusable and ultimately much simpler and less costly to manufacture than a closed channel plate system. The hybrid system incorporates a microslab portion of the separation medium above the microchannels, thus at least substantially reducing the possibility of non-uniform field distribution and breakdown due to uncontrollable leakage. A microslab of the sieving matrix is built into the system by using plastic spacer materials and is used to uniformly couple the top plate with the bottom microchannel plate.

Condenser optics, partial coherence, and imaging for soft-x-ray projection lithography.

PubMed

Sommargren, G E; Seppala, L G

1993-12-01

A condenser system couples the radiation source to an imaging system, controlling the uniformity and partial coherence at the object, which ultimately affects the characteristics of the aerial image. A soft-x-ray projection lithography system based on a ring-field imaging system and a laser-produced plasma x-ray source places considerable constraints on the design of a condenser system. Two designs are proposed, critical illumination and Köhler illumination, each of which requires three mirrors and scanning for covering the entire ring field with the required uniformity and partial coherence. Images based on Hopkins' formulation of partially coherent imaging are simulated.

Reading and Language Learning: Crosslinguistic Constraints on Second Language Reading Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koda, Keiko

2007-01-01

The ultimate goal of reading is to construct text meaning based on visually encoded information. Essentially, it entails converting print into language and then to the message intended by the author. It is hardly accidental, therefore, that, in all languages, reading builds on oral language competence and that learning to read uniformly requires…

Increased uniformity by planting clones will likely have a minimal effect on inventory costs

Treesearch

Curtis L. VanderSchaaf; Dean W. Coble; David B. South

2012-01-01

When conducting inventories, reducing variability among tree diameters, heights, and ultimately volumes or biomass, can reduce the number of points/plots needed to obtain a desired level of precision. We present a simple analysis examining the potential reduction in discounted inventory costs when stand variability is decreased (via improved genetics and intensive...

Research, Ideology, and the Brown Decision: Counter-Narratives to the Historical and Contemporary Representation of Black Schooling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morris, Jerome

2008-01-01

Background/Context: Most narratives of Brown v. Board of Education primarily focus on integrated schooling as the ultimate objective in Black people's quest for quality schooling. Rather than uniformly assuming integration as Black people's ideological model, the push by Black people for quality schooling instead should be viewed within the…

Competition between a nonallelopathic phytoplankton and an allelopathic phytoplankton species under predation.

PubMed

Kengwoung-Keumo, Jean-Jacques

2016-08-01

We propose a model of two-species competition in the chemostat for a single growth-limiting, nonreproducing resource that extends that of Roy [38]. The response functions are specified to be Michaelis-Menten, and there is no predation in Roy's work. Our model generalizes Roy's model to general uptake functions. The competition is exploitative so that species compete by decreasing the common pool of resources. The model also allows allelopathic effects of one toxin-producing species, both on itself (autotoxicity) and on its nontoxic competitor (phytotoxicity). We show that a stable coexistence equilibrium exists as long as (a) there are allelopathic effects and (b) the input nutrient concentration is above a critical value. The model is reconsidered under instantaneous nutrient recycling. We further extend this work to include a zooplankton species as a fourth interacting component to study the impact of predation on the ecosystem. The zooplankton species is allowed to feed only on the two phytoplankton species which are its perfectly substitutable resources. Each of the models is analyzed for boundedness, equilibria, stability, and uniform persistence (or permanence). Each model structure fits very well with some harmful algal bloom observations where the phytoplankton assemblage can be envisioned in two compartments, toxin producing and non-toxic. The Prymnesium parvum literature, where the suppressing effects of allelochemicals are quite pronounced, is a classic example. This work advances knowledge in an area of research becoming ever more important, which is understanding the functioning of allelopathy in food webs.

Characterization of a Ultra-high Temperature Ceramic Composite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levine, Stanley R.; Opila, Elizabeth J.; Robinson, Raymond C.; Lorincz, Jonathan A.

2003-01-01

Ultra-high temperature ceramics (UHTC) are of interest for hypersonic vehicle leading edge applications. Monolithic UHTCs are of concern because of their low fracture toughness and brittle behavior. UHTC composites (UHTCC) are being investigated as a possible approach to overcome these deficiencies. In this study a small sample of a UHTCC was evaluated by limited mechanical property tests, furnace oxidation exposures, and oxidation exposures in a flowing environment. The composite was prepared from a carbon fiber perform using ceramic particulates and a preceramic polymer. The as-received composite plate was non-uniform from front to back surface. Plate dimensions were 150 x 150 x 6 mm. The back surface had a fibrous, uniform appearance; XRD analysis revealed the presence of Sic and C. The front surface was smooth and non-uniform in appearance with evidence of a coarse grain structure produced by a liquid phase; XRD analysis revealed the presence of HfB2. Microcracks were present throughout the thickness as one might expect from a carbon fiber reinforced composite with attendant large thermal expansion mismatch between the matrix phases and the fibers. The HfB2 phase on the front surface was comparable in thickness to a fiber ply or about 0.6 mm, and surface microcracks were evident. Limited four point flexural tests were carried out at span to depth ratios of approximately 14 and 16 with markedly different results. Tests were run with the front or the back surface in tension. At the shorter span to depth failures occurred under a loading pin for both orientations. At a span to depth of 16 failures occurred in the center of the span with fracture clearly initiating from a tensile failure. Ultimate flexural strength, strain at ultimate stress, stress and strain at deviation from linear elastic behavior are reported. Strains at ultimate stress ranged from about 0.6 to 0.7 % for the back surface in tension, and 0.4 to 0.6 for the front surface in tension. At constant span to depth the strain at ultimate stress was about 0.2% greater for the back surface in tension and the ultimate strength was also higher. Strengths were in line with predictions from theory. Furnace oxidation studies were carried out at 1627 and 1927OC in a static furnace environment using ten minute cycles and one, five, and ten cycles. Limited oxidation studies were also carried out in a flowing oxyacetylene torch environment. Specimens were photographed, and weight and dimensional changes were determined. XRD and SEM characterizations were performed. Weight losses were attributed primarily to carbon fiber oxidation. The composite survived the torch test with little visible distress. Further details will be determined once metallographic studies are completed.

Hybrid slab-microchannel gel electrophoresis system

DOEpatents

Balch, J.W.; Carrano, A.V.; Davidson, J.C.; Koo, J.C.

1998-05-05

A hybrid slab-microchannel gel electrophoresis system is described. The hybrid system permits the fabrication of isolated microchannels for biomolecule separations without imposing the constraint of a totally sealed system. The hybrid system is reusable and ultimately much simpler and less costly to manufacture than a closed channel plate system. The hybrid system incorporates a microslab portion of the separation medium above the microchannels, thus at least substantially reducing the possibility of non-uniform field distribution and breakdown due to uncontrollable leakage. A microslab of the sieving matrix is built into the system by using plastic spacer materials and is used to uniformly couple the top plate with the bottom microchannel plate. 4 figs.

Global boundedness to a chemotaxis system with singular sensitivity and logistic source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xiangdong; Zheng, Sining

2017-02-01

We consider the parabolic-parabolic Keller-Segel system with singular sensitivity and logistic source: u_t=Δ u-χ nabla \\cdot (u/vnabla v) +ru-μ u^2, v_t=Δ v-v+u under the homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions in a smooth bounded domain Ω subset {R}^2, χ ,μ >0 and rin {R}. It is proved that the system exists globally bounded classical solutions if r>χ ^2/4 for 0<χ ≤ 2, or r>χ -1 for χ >2.

Deterministic Methods in Stochastic Optimal Control.

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-10-01

as (0.1) by adding a correction terito Ot ,h drift . L.tt us con|sidehr the Stoclia.tic optimtal control problem (0.1),(0.2). The dynaumtic progra...with ant icipative drift ) which will be done in Secioni I .sing Ihli decomposition of solutions of SI)E’s (see Kunila [14. p. 268] and Ocone and...programllitig. In the case when nonanticipating controls appear in the drift the Wong-Zakai con•’.rgence result slates that under smoothness and boundedness

Generating chaos for discrete time-delayed systems via impulsive control.

PubMed

Guan, Zhi-Hong; Liu, Na

2010-03-01

Generating chaos for a class of discrete time-delayed systems via impulsive control is investigated in this paper. With the augmented matrix method, the time-delay impulsive systems can be transformed into a new class of linear discrete impulsive systems. Based on the largest Lyapunov exponent and the boundedness of the systems, some theoretical results about the chaotification for the discrete impulsive systems with time delay are derived and an example is given to visualize the satisfactory control performance.

Classical workflow nets and workflow nets with reset arcs: using Lyapunov stability for soundness verification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clempner, Julio B.

2017-01-01

This paper presents a novel analytical method for soundness verification of workflow nets and reset workflow nets, using the well-known stability results of Lyapunov for Petri nets. We also prove that the soundness property is decidable for workflow nets and reset workflow nets. In addition, we provide evidence of several outcomes related with properties such as boundedness, liveness, reversibility and blocking using stability. Our approach is validated theoretically and by a numerical example related to traffic signal-control synchronisation.

p-Adic solid-on-solid model on a Cayley tree

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khakimov, O. N.

2017-12-01

We consider a p-adic solid-on-solid ( SOS) model with a nearest-neighbor coupling, m+1 spins, and a coupling constant J ∈ Q p on a Cayley tree. We find conditions under which a phase transition does not occur in the model. We show that if p | m + 1 for some J, then a phase transition occurs. Moreover, we formulate a criterion for the boundedness of p-adic Gibbs measures for the ( m+1)- state SOS model.

On the boundedness and integration of non-oscillatory solutions of certain linear differential equations of second order.

PubMed

Tunç, Cemil; Tunç, Osman

2016-01-01

In this paper, certain system of linear homogeneous differential equations of second-order is considered. By using integral inequalities, some new criteria for bounded and [Formula: see text]-solutions, upper bounds for values of improper integrals of the solutions and their derivatives are established to the considered system. The obtained results in this paper are considered as extension to the results obtained by Kroopnick (2014) [1]. An example is given to illustrate the obtained results.

Joint Task Force Headquarters Master Training Guide

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-09-01

roles, and relationships that differ from those of Service organizations. (6) Understand the rotation policy for individual augmentees assigned to the...JTF. Although the Combatant Commander ultimately establishes individual and unit rotation policies, they will not necessarily be uniform. One...Service might have a 90-day rotation policy while the other Services have 120-day or 179-day rotation policies. To stabilize key billets, consider

A Theoretical Search for Supervelocity Semiconductors

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-10-01

interfaces, doping control and compositional uniformity with atomic level dimensions. The development of ALE may very well prove to be the ultimate growth...pseudomorphic or strained-layer devices. These structures permit extended compositional ranges and, thus, have a number of potential advantages such as...in silicon devices For the past fifteen years, the silicon MOSFET industry has been dealing increasingly with prob- lems related to hot electron

A non-uniformly under-sampled blade tip-timing signal reconstruction method for blade vibration monitoring.

PubMed

Hu, Zheng; Lin, Jun; Chen, Zhong-Sheng; Yang, Yong-Min; Li, Xue-Jun

2015-01-22

High-speed blades are often prone to fatigue due to severe blade vibrations. In particular, synchronous vibrations can cause irreversible damages to the blade. Blade tip-timing methods (BTT) have become a promising way to monitor blade vibrations. However, synchronous vibrations are unsuitably monitored by uniform BTT sampling. Therefore, non-equally mounted probes have been used, which will result in the non-uniformity of the sampling signal. Since under-sampling is an intrinsic drawback of BTT methods, how to analyze non-uniformly under-sampled BTT signals is a big challenge. In this paper, a novel reconstruction method for non-uniformly under-sampled BTT data is presented. The method is based on the periodically non-uniform sampling theorem. Firstly, a mathematical model of a non-uniform BTT sampling process is built. It can be treated as the sum of certain uniform sample streams. For each stream, an interpolating function is required to prevent aliasing in the reconstructed signal. Secondly, simultaneous equations of all interpolating functions in each sub-band are built and corresponding solutions are ultimately derived to remove unwanted replicas of the original signal caused by the sampling, which may overlay the original signal. In the end, numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to validate the feasibility of the proposed method. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the reconstructed signal depends on the sampling frequency, the blade vibration frequency, the blade vibration bandwidth, the probe static offset and the number of samples. In practice, both types of blade vibration signals can be particularly reconstructed by non-uniform BTT data acquired from only two probes.

A Non-Uniformly Under-Sampled Blade Tip-Timing Signal Reconstruction Method for Blade Vibration Monitoring

PubMed Central

Hu, Zheng; Lin, Jun; Chen, Zhong-Sheng; Yang, Yong-Min; Li, Xue-Jun

2015-01-01

High-speed blades are often prone to fatigue due to severe blade vibrations. In particular, synchronous vibrations can cause irreversible damages to the blade. Blade tip-timing methods (BTT) have become a promising way to monitor blade vibrations. However, synchronous vibrations are unsuitably monitored by uniform BTT sampling. Therefore, non-equally mounted probes have been used, which will result in the non-uniformity of the sampling signal. Since under-sampling is an intrinsic drawback of BTT methods, how to analyze non-uniformly under-sampled BTT signals is a big challenge. In this paper, a novel reconstruction method for non-uniformly under-sampled BTT data is presented. The method is based on the periodically non-uniform sampling theorem. Firstly, a mathematical model of a non-uniform BTT sampling process is built. It can be treated as the sum of certain uniform sample streams. For each stream, an interpolating function is required to prevent aliasing in the reconstructed signal. Secondly, simultaneous equations of all interpolating functions in each sub-band are built and corresponding solutions are ultimately derived to remove unwanted replicas of the original signal caused by the sampling, which may overlay the original signal. In the end, numerical simulations and experiments are carried out to validate the feasibility of the proposed method. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the reconstructed signal depends on the sampling frequency, the blade vibration frequency, the blade vibration bandwidth, the probe static offset and the number of samples. In practice, both types of blade vibration signals can be particularly reconstructed by non-uniform BTT data acquired from only two probes. PMID:25621612

An improved bounded semi-Lagrangian scheme for the turbulent transport of passive scalars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, Siddhartha; Xuan, Y.; Blanquart, G.

2014-09-01

An improved bounded semi-Lagrangian scalar transport scheme based on cubic Hermite polynomial reconstruction is proposed in this paper. Boundedness of the scalar being transported is ensured by applying derivative limiting techniques. Single sub-cell extrema are allowed to exist as they are often physical, and help minimize numerical dissipation. This treatment is distinct from enforcing strict monotonicity as done by D.L. Williamson and P.J. Rasch [5], and allows better preservation of small scale structures in turbulent simulations. The proposed bounding algorithm, although a seemingly subtle difference from strict monotonicity enforcement, is shown to result in significant performance gain in laminar cases, and in three-dimensional turbulent mixing layers. The scheme satisfies several important properties, including boundedness, low numerical diffusion, and high accuracy. Performance gain in the turbulent case is assessed by comparing scalar energy and dissipation spectra produced by several bounded and unbounded schemes. The results indicate that the proposed scheme is capable of furnishing extremely accurate results, with less severe resolution requirements than all the other bounded schemes tested. Additional simulations in homogeneous isotropic turbulence, with scalar timestep size unconstrained by the CFL number, show good agreement with spectral scheme results available in the literature. Detailed analytical examination of gain and phase error characteristics of the original cubic Hermite polynomial is also included, and points to dissipation and dispersion characteristics comparable to, or better than, those of a fifth order upwind Eulerian scheme.

Ballastic signature identification systems study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reich, A.; Hine, T. L.

1976-01-01

The results are described of an attempt to establish a uniform procedure for documenting (recording) expended bullet signatures as effortlessly as possible and to build a comprehensive library of these signatures in a form that will permit the automated comparison of a new suspect bullet with the prestored library. The ultimate objective is to achieve a standardized format that will permit nationwide interaction between police departments, crime laboratories, and other interested law enforcement agencies.

Performance improvements of binary diffractive structures via optimization of the photolithography and dry etch processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welch, Kevin; Leonard, Jerry; Jones, Richard D.

2010-08-01

Increasingly stringent requirements on the performance of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) used in wafer scanner illumination systems are driving continuous improvements in their associated manufacturing processes. Specifically, these processes are designed to improve the output pattern uniformity of off-axis illumination systems to minimize degradation in the ultimate imaging performance of a lithographic tool. In this paper, we discuss performance improvements in both photolithographic patterning and RIE etching of fused silica diffractive optical structures. In summary, optimized photolithographic processes were developed to increase critical dimension uniformity and featuresize linearity across the substrate. The photoresist film thickness was also optimized for integration with an improved etch process. This etch process was itself optimized for pattern transfer fidelity, sidewall profile (wall angle, trench bottom flatness), and across-wafer etch depth uniformity. Improvements observed with these processes on idealized test structures (for ease of analysis) led to their implementation in product flows, with comparable increases in performance and yield on customer designs.

A nonstandard finite difference scheme for a basic model of cellular immune response to viral infection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korpusik, Adam

2017-02-01

We present a nonstandard finite difference scheme for a basic model of cellular immune response to viral infection. The main advantage of this approach is that it preserves the essential qualitative features of the original continuous model (non-negativity and boundedness of the solution, equilibria and their stability conditions), while being easy to implement. All of the qualitative features are preserved independently of the chosen step-size. Numerical simulations of our approach and comparison with other conventional simulation methods are presented.

Complexity and chaos control in a discrete-time prey-predator model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Din, Qamar

2017-08-01

We investigate the complex behavior and chaos control in a discrete-time prey-predator model. Taking into account the Leslie-Gower prey-predator model, we propose a discrete-time prey-predator system with predator partially dependent on prey and investigate the boundedness, existence and uniqueness of positive equilibrium and bifurcation analysis of the system by using center manifold theorem and bifurcation theory. Various feedback control strategies are implemented for controlling the bifurcation and chaos in the system. Numerical simulations are provided to illustrate theoretical discussion.

Convergence of Asymptotic Systems of Non-autonomous Neural Network Models with Infinite Distributed Delays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira, José J.

2017-10-01

In this paper, we investigate the global convergence of solutions of non-autonomous Hopfield neural network models with discrete time-varying delays, infinite distributed delays, and possible unbounded coefficient functions. Instead of using Lyapunov functionals, we explore intrinsic features between the non-autonomous systems and their asymptotic systems to ensure the boundedness and global convergence of the solutions of the studied models. Our results are new and complement known results in the literature. The theoretical analysis is illustrated with some examples and numerical simulations.

On a product-type operator from weighted Bergman-Orlicz space to some weighted type spaces.

PubMed

Jiang, Zhi-Jie

2015-04-01

Let [Formula: see text] be the open unit disk, [Formula: see text] an analytic self-map of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] an analytic function on [Formula: see text]. Let D be the differentiation operator and [Formula: see text] the weighted composition operator. The boundedness and compactness of the product-type operator [Formula: see text] from the weighted Bergman-Orlicz space to the Bers type space, weighted Bloch space and weighted Zygmund space on [Formula: see text] are characterized.

A Harnack's inequality for mixed type evolution equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paronetto, Fabio

2016-03-01

We define a homogeneous parabolic De Giorgi classes of order 2 which suits a mixed type class of evolution equations whose simplest example is μ (x)∂u/∂t - Δu = 0 where μ can be positive, null and negative, so in particular elliptic-parabolic and forward-backward parabolic equations are included. For functions belonging to this class we prove local boundedness and show a Harnack inequality which, as by-products, gives Hölder-continuity, in particular in the interface I where μ changes sign, and a maximum principle.

Stability properties of a general class of nonlinear dynamical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gléria, I. M.; Figueiredo, A.; Rocha Filho, T. M.

2001-05-01

We establish sufficient conditions for the boundedness of the trajectories and the stability of the fixed points in a class of general nonlinear systems, the so-called quasi-polynomial vector fields, with the help of a natural embedding of such systems in a family of generalized Lotka-Volterra (LV) equations. A purely algebraic procedure is developed to determine such conditions. We apply our method to obtain new results for LV systems, by a reparametrization in time variable, and to study general nonlinear vector fields, originally far from the LV format.

Boundedness and convergence of online gradient method with penalty for feedforward neural networks.

PubMed

Zhang, Huisheng; Wu, Wei; Liu, Fei; Yao, Mingchen

2009-06-01

In this brief, we consider an online gradient method with penalty for training feedforward neural networks. Specifically, the penalty is a term proportional to the norm of the weights. Its roles in the method are to control the magnitude of the weights and to improve the generalization performance of the network. By proving that the weights are automatically bounded in the network training with penalty, we simplify the conditions that are required for convergence of online gradient method in literature. A numerical example is given to support the theoretical analysis.

Effects of incomplete adaption and disturbance in adaptive control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lindorff, D. P.

1972-01-01

This investigation focused attention on the fact that the synthesis of adaptive control systems has often been discussed in the framework of idealizations which may represent over simplifications. A condition for boundedness of the tracking error has been derived for the case in which incomplete adaption and disturbance are present. When using Parks' design it is shown that instability of the adaptive gains can result due to the presence of disturbance. The theory has been applied to a nontrivial example in order to illustrate the concepts involved.

Effect of wafer geometry on lithography chucking processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, Kevin T.; Sinha, Jaydeep K.

2015-03-01

Wafer flatness during exposure in lithography tools is critical and is becoming more important as feature sizes in devices shrink. While chucks are used to support and flatten the wafer during exposure, it is essential that wafer geometry be controlled as well. Thickness variations of the wafer and high-frequency wafer shape components can lead to poor flatness of the chucked wafer and ultimately patterning problems, such as defocus errors. The objective of this work is to understand how process-induced wafer geometry, resulting from deposited films with non-uniform stress, can lead to high-frequency wafer shape variations that prevent complete chucking in lithography scanners. In this paper, we discuss both the acceptable limits of wafer shape that permit complete chucking to be achieved, and how non-uniform residual stresses in films, either due to patterning or process non-uniformity, can induce high spatial frequency wafer shape components that prevent chucking. This paper describes mechanics models that relate non-uniform film stress to wafer shape and presents results for two example cases. The models and results can be used as a basis for establishing control strategies for managing process-induced wafer geometry in order to avoid wafer flatness-induced errors in lithography processes.

Robust adaptive relative position and attitude control for spacecraft autonomous proximity.

PubMed

Sun, Liang; Huo, Wei; Jiao, Zongxia

2016-07-01

This paper provides new results of the dynamical modeling and controller designing for autonomous close proximity phase during rendezvous and docking in the presence of kinematic couplings and model uncertainties. A globally defined relative motion mechanical model for close proximity operations is introduced firstly. Then, in spite of the kinematic couplings and thrust misalignment between relative rotation and relative translation, robust adaptive relative position and relative attitude controllers are designed successively. Finally, stability of the overall system is proved that the relative position and relative attitude are uniformly ultimately bounded, and the size of the ultimate bound can be regulated small enough by control system parameters. Performance of the controlled overall system is demonstrated via a representative numerical example. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A suggested outline for writing curriculum development journal articles: the IDCRD format.

PubMed

Reznich, C B; Anderson, W A

2001-01-01

During the past decade, medical school and residency faculty have been active in developing and revising curricula for medical education programs. Many of these curriculum development efforts ultimately are published in peer-reviewed professional journals as articles or abstracts. Unlike research publications, no uniform format currently exists for reporting curriculum development efforts in the peer-reviewed literature. A suggested format for organizing curriculum development manuscripts consists of the introduction, development, curriculum, results, and discussion (IDCRD). Detailed descriptions of each section are discussed herein. The IDCRD manuscript outline is intended to provide useful guidance to medical educators in publishing their curriculum development efforts. Journal editors are encouraged to recognize the importance of providing uniform descriptions of curricula so that readers can benefit from the experience of others and replicate successful curriculum efforts.

Boundedness for a 3D chemotaxis-Stokes system with porous medium diffusion and tensor-valued chemotactic sensitivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yilong; Li, Xie

2017-04-01

This paper deals with the following chemotaxis-Stokes system n_t+u\\cdot nabla n=Δ n^m-nabla \\cdot (nS(x,n,c)\\cdot nabla c), &{}quad xin Ω , t>0, c_t+u\\cdot nabla c=Δ c-nf(c),&{}quad xin Ω , t>0, u_t=Δ u+nabla P+nnabla φ ,&quad xin Ω , t>0,\\ nabla \\cdot u=0,&{}quad xin Ω , t>0. under no-flux boundary conditions in a bounded domain Ω subset R3 with smooth boundary, where m≥ 1, φ in W^{1,∞}(Ω ), f and S are given functions with values in [0, ∞) and R^{3× 3}, respectively. Here S satisfies |S(x,n,c)|7/6, which insures the global existence of bounded weak solution. Our result covers completely and improves the recent result by Wang and Cao (Discrete Contin Dyn Syst Ser B 20:3235-3254, 2015) which asserts, just in the case m=1, the global existence of solutions, but without boundedness, and that by Winkler (Calc Var Partial Differ Equ 54:3789-3828, 2015) which only involves the case of α =0 and requires the convexity of the domain.

Demographic, Physical, and Mental Health Factors Associated With Deployment of U.S. Army Soldiers to the Persian Gulf

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

MILITARY MEDICINE , 175,4:227, 2010 Demographic, Physical, and Mental Health Factors Associated With Deployment of U.S. Army Soldiers to the Persian...these soldiers who *SSDS, Inc., Natick, MA. tU.S. Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine , Natick, MA. tDepartment of Psychiatry, Uniformed...article originally appeared in Military Medicine 2000; 165(10): 762-72. did ultimately deploy to the Persian Gulf. At a minimum, the potential

Demographic, Physical, and Mental Health Factors Associated with Deployment of U.S. Army Soldiers to the Persian Gulf

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-01

MILITARY MEDICINE , 175,4:227, 2010 Demographic, Physical, and Mental Health Factors Associated With Deployment of U.S. Army Soldiers to the Persian...these soldiers who *SSDS, Inc., Natick, MA. tU.S. Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine , Natick, MA. tDepartment of Psychiatry, Uniformed...article originally appeared in Military Medicine 2000; 165(10): 762-72. did ultimately deploy to the Persian Gulf. At a minimum, the potential

Why Do Some Cores Remain Starless?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anathpindika, S.

2016-08-01

Prestellar cores, by definition, are gravitationally bound but starless pockets of dense gas. Physical conditions that could render a core starless (in the local Universe) is the subject of investigation in this work. To this end, we studied the evolution of four starless cores, B68, L694-2, L1517B, L1689, and L1521F, a VeLLO. We demonstrate: (i) cores contracted in quasistatic manner over a timescale on the order of ~ 105 yr. Those that remained starless briefly acquired a centrally concentrated density configuration that mimicked the profile of a unstable BonnorEbert sphere before rebounding, (ii) three cores viz. L694-2, L1689-SMM16, and L1521F remained starless despite becoming thermally super-critical. By contrast, B68 and L1517B remained sub-critical; L1521F collapsed to become a VeLLO only when gas-cooling was enhanced by increasing the size of dust-grains. This result is robust, for other starless cores viz. B68, L694-2, L1517B, and L1689 could also be similarly induced to collapse. The temperature-profile of starless cores and those that collapsed was found to be radically different. While in the former type, only very close to the centre of a core was there any evidence of decline in gas temperature, by contrast, a core of the latter type developed a more uniformly cold interior. Our principle conclusions are: (a) thermal super-criticality of a core is insufficient to ensure it will become protostellar, (b) potential star-forming cores (the VeLLO L1521F here), could be experiencing dust-coagulation that must enhance gasdust coupling and in turn lower gas temperature, thereby assisting collapse. This also suggests, mere gravitational/virial boundedness of a core is insufficient to ensure it will form stars.

Global exponential stability analysis on impulsive BAM neural networks with distributed delays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yao-Tang; Yang, Chang-Bo

2006-12-01

Using M-matrix and topological degree tool, sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence, uniqueness and global exponential stability of the equilibrium point of bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural networks with distributed delays and subjected to impulsive state displacements at fixed instants of time by constructing a suitable Lyapunov functional. The results remove the usual assumptions that the boundedness, monotonicity, and differentiability of the activation functions. It is shown that in some cases, the stability criteria can be easily checked. Finally, an illustrative example is given to show the effectiveness of the presented criteria.

Temporal model of an optically pumped co-doped solid state laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wangler, T. G.; Swetits, J. J.; Buoncristiani, A. M.

1993-01-01

Currently, research is being conducted on the optical properties of materials associated with the development of solid state lasers in the two micron region. In support of this effort, a mathematical model describing the energy transfer in a holmium laser sensitized with thulium is developed. In this paper, we establish some qualitative properties of the solution of the model, such as non-negativity, boundedness, and integrability. A local stability analysis is then performed from which conditions for asymptotic stability are attained. Finally, we report on our numerical analysis of the system and how it compares with experimental results.

The discrete one-sided Lipschitz condition for convex scalar conservation laws

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brenier, Yann; Osher, Stanley

1986-01-01

Physical solutions to convex scalar conservation laws satisfy a one-sided Lipschitz condition (OSLC) that enforces both the entropy condition and their variation boundedness. Consistency with this condition is therefore desirable for a numerical scheme and was proved for both the Godunov and the Lax-Friedrichs scheme--also, in a weakened version, for the Roe scheme, all of them being only first order accurate. A new, fully second order scheme is introduced here, which is consistent with the OSLC. The modified equation is considered and shows interesting features. Another second order scheme is then considered and numerical results are discussed.

Modeling and Properties of Nonlinear Stochastic Dynamical System of Continuous Culture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lei; Feng, Enmin; Ye, Jianxiong; Xiu, Zhilong

The stochastic counterpart to the deterministic description of continuous fermentation with ordinary differential equation is investigated in the process of glycerol bio-dissimilation to 1,3-propanediol by Klebsiella pneumoniae. We briefly discuss the continuous fermentation process driven by three-dimensional Brownian motion and Lipschitz coefficients, which is suitable for the factual fermentation. Subsequently, we study the existence and uniqueness of solutions for the stochastic system as well as the boundedness of the Two-order Moment and the Markov property of the solution. Finally stochastic simulation is carried out under the Stochastic Euler-Maruyama method.

Least square neural network model of the crude oil blending process.

PubMed

Rubio, José de Jesús

2016-06-01

In this paper, the recursive least square algorithm is designed for the big data learning of a feedforward neural network. The proposed method as the combination of the recursive least square and feedforward neural network obtains four advantages over the alone algorithms: it requires less number of regressors, it is fast, it has the learning ability, and it is more compact. Stability, convergence, boundedness of parameters, and local minimum avoidance of the proposed technique are guaranteed. The introduced strategy is applied for the modeling of the crude oil blending process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The residency interview is still paramount: results of a retrospective cohort study on concordance of dermatology residency applicant evaluators and influence of the applicant interview.

PubMed

Kamangar, Faranak; Davari, Parastoo; Azari, Rahman; Fitzmaurice, Sarah; Li, Chin-Shang; Eisen, Daniel B; Fazel, Nasim

2017-05-22

Application to dermatology residency is a highly competitive process. Although factors associated with successfully matching have been studied, less is known regarding the ability of admissions committees to screen applicants in a uniform manner or the importance of the interview in ranking applicants. Our goal was to retrospectively measure our admission committee evaluators' concordance regarding residency application credentials and interview performance, and ultimately the effects on final applicant ranking.

An Ultimate Stereocontrol in Asymmetric Synthesis of Optically Pure Fully Aromatic Helicenes.

PubMed

Šámal, Michal; Chercheja, Serghei; Rybáček, Jiří; Vacek Chocholoušová, Jana; Vacek, Jaroslav; Bednárová, Lucie; Šaman, David; Stará, Irena G; Starý, Ivo

2015-07-08

The role of the helicity of small molecules in enantioselective catalysis, molecular recognition, self-assembly, material science, biology, and nanoscience is much less understood than that of point-, axial-, or planar-chiral molecules. To uncover the envisaged potential of helically chiral polyaromatics represented by iconic helicenes, their availability in an optically pure form through asymmetric synthesis is urgently needed. We provide a solution to this problem present since the birth of helicene chemistry in 1956 by developing a general synthetic methodology for the preparation of uniformly enantiopure fully aromatic [5]-, [6]-, and [7]helicenes and their functionalized derivatives. [2 + 2 + 2] Cycloisomerization of chiral triynes combined with asymmetric transformation of the first kind (ultimately controlled by the 1,3-allylic-type strain) is central to this endeavor. The point-to-helical chirality transfer utilizing a traceless chiral auxiliary features a remarkable resistance to diverse structural perturbations.

A PORTRAIT OF COLD GAS IN GALAXIES AT 60 pc RESOLUTION AND A SIMPLE METHOD TO TEST HYPOTHESES THAT LINK SMALL-SCALE ISM STRUCTURE TO GALAXY-SCALE PROCESSES

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

Leroy, Adam K.; Hughes, Annie; Schruba, Andreas

2016-11-01

The cloud-scale density, velocity dispersion, and gravitational boundedness of the interstellar medium (ISM) vary within and among galaxies. In turbulent models, these properties play key roles in the ability of gas to form stars. New high-fidelity, high-resolution surveys offer the prospect to measure these quantities across galaxies. We present a simple approach to make such measurements and to test hypotheses that link small-scale gas structure to star formation and galactic environment. Our calculations capture the key physics of the Larson scaling relations, and we show good correspondence between our approach and a traditional “cloud properties” treatment. However, we argue thatmore » our method is preferable in many cases because of its simple, reproducible characterization of all emission. Using, low- J {sup 12}CO data from recent surveys, we characterize the molecular ISM at 60 pc resolution in the Antennae, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), M31, M33, M51, and M74. We report the distributions of surface density, velocity dispersion, and gravitational boundedness at 60 pc scales and show galaxy-to-galaxy and intragalaxy variations in each. The distribution of flux as a function of surface density appears roughly lognormal with a 1 σ width of ∼0.3 dex, though the center of this distribution varies from galaxy to galaxy. The 60 pc resolution line width and molecular gas surface density correlate well, which is a fundamental behavior expected for virialized or free-falling gas. Varying the measurement scale for the LMC and M31, we show that the molecular ISM has higher surface densities, lower line widths, and more self-gravity at smaller scales.« less

Insights from in-situ X-ray computed tomography during axial impregnation of unidirectional fiber beds

DOE PAGES

Larson, Natalie M.; Zok, Frank W.

2017-12-27

In-situ X-ray computed tomography during axial impregnation of unidirectional fiber beds is used to study coupled effects of fluid velocity, fiber movement and preferred flow channeling on permeability. Here, in order to interpret the experimental measurements, a new computational tool for predicting axial permeability of very large 2D arrays of non-uniformly packed fibers is developed. The results show that, when the impregnation velocity is high, full saturation is attained behind the flow front and the fibers rearrange into a less uniform configuration with higher permeability. In contrast, when the velocity is low, fluid flows preferentially in the narrowest channels betweenmore » fibers, yielding unsaturated permeabilities that are lower than those in the saturated state. Lastly, these insights combined with a new computational tool will enable improved prediction of permeability, ultimately for use in optimization of composite manufacturing via liquid impregnation.« less

Effects of helium implantation on the tensile properties and microstructure of Ni₇₃P₂₇ metallic glass nanostructures

DOE PAGES

Liontas, Rachel; Gu, X. Wendy; Fu, Engang; ...

2014-09-10

We report fabrication and nanomechanical tension experiments on as-fabricated and helium-implanted ~130 nm diameter Ni₇₃P₂₇ metallic glass nano-cylinders. The nano-cylinders were fabricated by a templated electroplating process and implanted with He⁺ at energies of 50, 100, 150, and 200 keV to create a uniform helium concentration of ~3 at. % throughout the nano-cylinders. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging and through-focus analysis reveal that the specimens contained ~2 nm helium bubbles distributed uniformly throughout the nano-cylinder volume. In-situ tensile experiments indicate that helium-implanted specimens exhibit enhanced ductility as evidenced by a 2-fold increase in plastic strain over as-fabricated specimens, with nomore » sacrifice in yield and ultimate tensile strengths. This improvement in mechanical properties suggests that metallic glasses may actually exhibit a favorable response to high levels of helium implantation.« less

Insights from in-situ X-ray computed tomography during axial impregnation of unidirectional fiber beds

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

Larson, Natalie M.; Zok, Frank W.

In-situ X-ray computed tomography during axial impregnation of unidirectional fiber beds is used to study coupled effects of fluid velocity, fiber movement and preferred flow channeling on permeability. Here, in order to interpret the experimental measurements, a new computational tool for predicting axial permeability of very large 2D arrays of non-uniformly packed fibers is developed. The results show that, when the impregnation velocity is high, full saturation is attained behind the flow front and the fibers rearrange into a less uniform configuration with higher permeability. In contrast, when the velocity is low, fluid flows preferentially in the narrowest channels betweenmore » fibers, yielding unsaturated permeabilities that are lower than those in the saturated state. Lastly, these insights combined with a new computational tool will enable improved prediction of permeability, ultimately for use in optimization of composite manufacturing via liquid impregnation.« less

Optimal design for robust control of uncertain flexible joint manipulators: a fuzzy dynamical system approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Jiang; Chen, Ye-Hwa; Zhao, Xiaomin; Dong, Fangfang

2018-04-01

A novel fuzzy dynamical system approach to the control design of flexible joint manipulators with mismatched uncertainty is proposed. Uncertainties of the system are assumed to lie within prescribed fuzzy sets. The desired system performance includes a deterministic phase and a fuzzy phase. First, by creatively implanting a fictitious control, a robust control scheme is constructed to render the system uniformly bounded and uniformly ultimately bounded. Both the manipulator modelling and control scheme are deterministic and not IF-THEN heuristic rules-based. Next, a fuzzy-based performance index is proposed. An optimal design problem for a control design parameter is formulated as a constrained optimisation problem. The global solution to this problem can be obtained from solving two quartic equations. The fuzzy dynamical system approach is systematic and is able to assure the deterministic performance as well as to minimise the fuzzy performance index.

Stable boundary conditions and difference schemes for Navier-Stokes equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dutt, P.

1985-01-01

The Navier-Stokes equations can be viewed as an incompletely elliptic perturbation of the Euler equations. By using the entropy function for the Euler equations as a measure of energy for the Navier-Stokes equations, it was possible to obtain nonlinear energy estimates for the mixed initial boundary value problem. These estimates are used to derive boundary conditions which guarantee L2 boundedness even when the Reynolds number tends to infinity. Finally, a new difference scheme for modelling the Navier-Stokes equations in multidimensions for which it is possible to obtain discrete energy estimates exactly analogous to those we obtained for the differential equation was proposed.

Global stability results for a generalized Lotka-Volterra system with distributed delays. Applications to predator-prey and to epidemic systems.

PubMed

Beretta, E; Capasso, V; Rinaldi, F

1988-01-01

The paper contains an extension of the general ODE system proposed in previous papers by the same authors, to include distributed time delays in the interaction terms. The new system describes a large class of Lotka-Volterra like population models and epidemic models with continuous time delays. Sufficient conditions for the boundedness of solutions and for the global asymptotic stability of nontrivial equilibrium solutions are given. A detailed analysis of the epidemic system is given with respect to the conditions for global stability. For a relevant subclass of these systems an existence criterion for steady states is also given.

Convergence of fractional adaptive systems using gradient approach.

PubMed

Gallegos, Javier A; Duarte-Mermoud, Manuel A

2017-07-01

Conditions for boundedness and convergence of the output error and the parameter error for various Caputo's fractional order adaptive schemes based on the steepest descent method are derived in this paper. To this aim, the concept of sufficiently exciting signals is introduced, characterized and related to the concept of persistently exciting signals used in the integer order case. An application is designed in adaptive indirect control of integer order systems using fractional equations to adjust parameters. This application is illustrated for a pole placement adaptive problem. Advantages of using fractional adjustment in control adaptive schemes are experimentally obtained. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Adaptive Jitter Mechanism for Reactive Route Discovery in Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Cordero, Juan Antonio; Yi, Jiazi; Clausen, Thomas

2014-01-01

This paper analyses the impact of jitter when applied to route discovery in reactive (on-demand) routing protocols. In multi-hop non-synchronized wireless networks, jitter—a small, random variation in the timing of message emission—is commonly employed, as a means to avoid collisions of simultaneous transmissions by adjacent routers over the same channel. In a reactive routing protocol for sensor and ad hoc networks, jitter is recommended during the route discovery process, specifically, during the network-wide flooding of route request messages, in order to avoid collisions. Commonly, a simple uniform jitter is recommended. Alas, this is not without drawbacks: when applying uniform jitter to the route discovery process, an effect called delay inversion is observed. This paper, first, studies and quantifies this delay inversion effect. Second, this paper proposes an adaptive jitter mechanism, designed to alleviate the delay inversion effect and thereby to reduce the route discovery overhead and (ultimately) allow the routing protocol to find more optimal paths, as compared to uniform jitter. This paper presents both analytical and simulation studies, showing that the proposed adaptive jitter can effectively decrease the cost of route discovery and increase the path quality. PMID:25111238

The effect of Au amount on size uniformity of self-assembled Au nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, S.-H.; Wang, D.-C.; Chen, G.-Y.; Chen, K.-Y.

2008-03-01

The self-assembled fabrication of nanostructure, a dreaming approach in the area of fabrication engineering, is the ultimate goal of this research. A finding was proved through previous research that the size of the self-assembled gold nanoparticles could be controlled with the mole ratio between AuCl4- and thiol. In this study, the moles of Au were fixed, only the moles of thiol were adjusted. Five different mole ratios of Au/S with their effect on size uniformity were investigated. The mole ratios were 1:1/16, 1:1/8, 1:1, 1:8, 1:16, respectively. The size distributions of the gold nanoparticles were analyzed by Mac-View analysis software. HR-TEM was used to derive images of self-assembled gold nanoparticles. The result reached was also the higher the mole ratio between AuCl4- and thiol the bigger the self-assembled gold nanoparticles. Under the condition of moles of Au fixed, the most homogeneous nanoparticles in size distribution derived with the mole ratio of 1:1/8 between AuCl4- and thiol. The obtained nanoparticles could be used, for example, in uniform surface nanofabrication, leading to the fabrication of ordered array of quantum dots.

Fabrication of Microstripline Wiring for Large Format Transition Edge Sensor Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chervenak, James A.; Adams, J. M.; Bailey, C. N.; Bandler, S.; Brekosky, R. P.; Eckart, M. E.; Erwin, A. E.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Kelley, R. L.; Kilbourne, C. A.;

A Micromechanics-Based Damage Model for [+/- Theta/90n]s Composite Laminates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayugo, Joan-Andreu; Camanho, Pedro P.; Maimi, Pere; Davila, Carlos G.

2006-01-01

A new damage model based on a micromechanical analysis of cracked [+/- Theta/90n]s laminates subjected to multiaxial loads is proposed. The model predicts the onset and accumulation of transverse matrix cracks in uniformly stressed laminates, the effect of matrix cracks on the stiffness of the laminate, as well as the ultimate failure of the laminate. The model also accounts for the effect of the ply thickness on the ply strength. Predictions relating the elastic properties of several laminates and multiaxial loads are presented.

Electrical termination techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oakey, W. E.; Schleicher, R. R.

1976-01-01

A technical review of high reliability electrical terminations for electronic equipment was made. Seven techniques were selected from this review for further investigation, experimental work, and preliminary testing. From the preliminary test results, four techniques were selected for final testing and evaluation. These four were: (1) induction soldering, (2) wire wrap, (3) percussive arc welding, and (4) resistance welding. Of these four, induction soldering was selected as the best technique in terms of minimizing operator errors, controlling temperature and time, minimizing joint contamination, and ultimately producing a reliable, uniform, and reusable electrical termination.

Structural Deterministic Safety Factors Selection Criteria and Verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Verderaime, V.

1992-01-01

Though current deterministic safety factors are arbitrarily and unaccountably specified, its ratio is rooted in resistive and applied stress probability distributions. This study approached the deterministic method from a probabilistic concept leading to a more systematic and coherent philosophy and criterion for designing more uniform and reliable high-performance structures. The deterministic method was noted to consist of three safety factors: a standard deviation multiplier of the applied stress distribution; a K-factor for the A- or B-basis material ultimate stress; and the conventional safety factor to ensure that the applied stress does not operate in the inelastic zone of metallic materials. The conventional safety factor is specifically defined as the ratio of ultimate-to-yield stresses. A deterministic safety index of the combined safety factors was derived from which the corresponding reliability proved the deterministic method is not reliability sensitive. The bases for selecting safety factors are presented and verification requirements are discussed. The suggested deterministic approach is applicable to all NASA, DOD, and commercial high-performance structures under static stresses.

The Red Sea Basin Province: Sudr-Nubia(!) and Maqna(!) Petroleum Systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindquist, Sandra J.

1999-01-01

The Sudr-Nubia(!) oil-prone total petroleum system dominates the densely explored Gulf of Suez part of the rifted Red Sea Basin Province. Upper Cretaceous to Eocene source rocks, primarily the Senonian Sudr Formation, are organic-rich, areally uniform marine carbonates that have generated known ultimate recoverable reserves exceeding 11 BBOE. The name Nubia is used for sandstone reservoirs with a wide range of poorly constrained, pre-rift geologic ages ranging from Early Paleozoic to Early Cretaceous. Syn- and post-rift Tertiary reservoirs, especially the Kareem Formation, also contain significant reserves. Partly overlapping Sudr-Nubia(!) is the areally larger and geochemically distinct, oil-and-gas-prone Maqna(!) total petroleum system within the southern Gulf of Suez basin and the sparsely explored remaining Red Sea basin. Known ultimate recoverable reserves are 50-100 MMBOE and more than 900 MMBOE, respectively, in those areas. Both the source and reservoir rocks in this petroleum system are Tertiary, dominantly Miocene, in age. Maqna(!) has the greater potential for future resource development.

Two-dimensional array of cold-electron bolometers for high-sensitivity polarization measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzmin, L. S.

2012-01-01

A new concept of a two-dimensional array of cold-electron bolometers with distributed dipole antennas in the focal plane for high-sensitivity polarization measurements is proposed. The concept gives a unique combination of high polarization resolution due to a large uniforms array of cold-electron bolometers and optimal matching with junction field effect transistor (JFET) amplifiers because of flexibility in direct-current connections. The noise characteristics are improved due to arriving-signal power distribution among numerous cold-electron bolometers and an increase in their response. This should lead to a significant increase in the sensitivity and dynamic range compared with competing alternative bolometer technologies. The reliability of the twodimensional array significantly increases due to a series-parallel connection of a large number of cold-electron bolometers. High polarization resolution should be ensured due to uniform covering of a substrate by a two-dimensional array over a large area and the absence of the beam compression to small lumped elements. The fundamental sensitivity limit of the cold-electron bolometer array is smaller than photon noise which is considered to be the ultimate level restricted by the background radiation. Estimates of noise of bolometers with the JFET reading system show the possibility of realizing the ultimate sensitivity below the photon-noise level 5 ・10-17 W/Hz1/2 at a frequency of 350 GHz for an optical load with a power of 5 pW. These parameters correspond to the requirements to the receiving system of a BOOMERanG balloon telescope.

Stability in Cohen Grossberg-type bidirectional associative memory neural networks with time-varying delays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Jinde; Song, Qiankun

2006-07-01

In this paper, the exponential stability problem is investigated for a class of Cohen-Grossberg-type bidirectional associative memory neural networks with time-varying delays. By using the analysis method, inequality technique and the properties of an M-matrix, several novel sufficient conditions ensuring the existence, uniqueness and global exponential stability of the equilibrium point are derived. Moreover, the exponential convergence rate is estimated. The obtained results are less restrictive than those given in the earlier literature, and the boundedness and differentiability of the activation functions and differentiability of the time-varying delays are removed. Two examples with their simulations are given to show the effectiveness of the obtained results.

Maximal regularity in lp spaces for discrete time fractional shifted equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lizama, Carlos; Murillo-Arcila, Marina

2017-09-01

In this paper, we are presenting a new method based on operator-valued Fourier multipliers to characterize the existence and uniqueness of ℓp-solutions for discrete time fractional models in the form where A is a closed linear operator defined on a Banach space X and Δα denotes the Grünwald-Letnikov fractional derivative of order α > 0. If X is a UMD space, we provide this characterization only in terms of the R-boundedness of the operator-valued symbol associated to the abstract model. To illustrate our results, we derive new qualitative properties of nonlinear difference equations with shiftings, including fractional versions of the logistic and Nagumo equations.

Sharp conditions for global stability of Lotka-Volterra systems with distributed delays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faria, Teresa

We give a criterion for the global attractivity of a positive equilibrium of n-dimensional non-autonomous Lotka-Volterra systems with distributed delays. For a class of autonomous Lotka-Volterra systems, we show that such a criterion is sharp, in the sense that it provides necessary and sufficient conditions for the global asymptotic stability independently of the choice of the delay functions. The global attractivity of positive equilibria is established by imposing a diagonal dominance of the instantaneous negative feedback terms, and relies on auxiliary results showing the boundedness of all positive solutions. The paper improves and generalizes known results in the literature, namely by considering systems with distributed delays rather than discrete delays.

Effect of Continuous Galvanizing Heat Treatments on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of High Al-Low Si Transformation Induced Plasticity Steels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellhouse, E. M.; McDermid, J. R.

2010-02-01

Heat treatments were performed using an isothermal bainitic transformation (IBT) temperature compatible with continuous hot-dip galvanizing on two high Al-low Si transformation induced plasticity (TRIP)-assisted steels. Both steels had 0.2 wt pct C and 1.5 wt pct Mn; one had 1.5 wt pct Al and the other had 1 wt pct Al and 0.5 wt pct Si. Two different intercritical annealing (IA) temperatures were used, resulting in intercritical microstructures of 50 pct ferrite (α)-50 pct austenite (γ) and 65 pct α-35 pct γ. Using the IBT temperature of 465 °C, five IBT times were tested: 4, 30, 60, 90, and 120 seconds. Increasing the IBT time resulted in a decrease in the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and an increase in the uniform elongation, yield strength, and yield point elongation. The uniform elongation was higher when using the 50 pct α-50 pct γ IA temperature when compared to the 65 pct α-35 pct γ IA temperature. The best combinations of strength and ductility and their corresponding heat treatments were as follows: a tensile strength of 895 MPa and uniform elongation of 0.26 for the 1.5 pct Al TRIP steel at the 50 pct γ IA temperature and 90-second IBT time; a tensile strength of 880 MPa and uniform elongation of 0.27 for the 1.5 pct Al TRIP steel at the 50 pct γ IA temperature and 120-second IBT time; and a tensile strength of 1009 MPa and uniform elongation of 0.22 for the 1 pct Al-0.5 pct Si TRIP steel at the 50 pct γ IA temperature and 120-second IBT time.

Application of Statistically Derived CPAS Parachute Parameters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Romero, Leah M.; Ray, Eric S.

2013-01-01

The Capsule Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) Analysis Team is responsible for determining parachute inflation parameters and dispersions that are ultimately used in verifying system requirements. A model memo is internally released semi-annually documenting parachute inflation and other key parameters reconstructed from flight test data. Dispersion probability distributions published in previous versions of the model memo were uniform because insufficient data were available for determination of statistical based distributions. Uniform distributions do not accurately represent the expected distributions since extreme parameter values are just as likely to occur as the nominal value. CPAS has taken incremental steps to move away from uniform distributions. Model Memo version 9 (MMv9) made the first use of non-uniform dispersions, but only for the reefing cutter timing, for which a large number of sample was available. In order to maximize the utility of the available flight test data, clusters of parachutes were reconstructed individually starting with Model Memo version 10. This allowed for statistical assessment for steady-state drag area (CDS) and parachute inflation parameters such as the canopy fill distance (n), profile shape exponent (expopen), over-inflation factor (C(sub k)), and ramp-down time (t(sub k)) distributions. Built-in MATLAB distributions were applied to the histograms, and parameters such as scale (sigma) and location (mu) were output. Engineering judgment was used to determine the "best fit" distribution based on the test data. Results include normal, log normal, and uniform (where available data remains insufficient) fits of nominal and failure (loss of parachute and skipped stage) cases for all CPAS parachutes. This paper discusses the uniform methodology that was previously used, the process and result of the statistical assessment, how the dispersions were incorporated into Monte Carlo analyses, and the application of the distributions in trajectory benchmark testing assessments with parachute inflation parameters, drag area, and reefing cutter timing used by CPAS.

Enceladus's crust as a non-uniform thin shell: I tidal deformations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beuthe, Mikael

2018-03-01

The geologic activity at Enceladus's south pole remains unexplained, though tidal deformations are probably the ultimate cause. Recent gravity and libration data indicate that Enceladus's icy crust floats on a global ocean, is rather thin, and has a strongly non-uniform thickness. Tidal effects are enhanced by crustal thinning at the south pole, so that realistic models of tidal tectonics and dissipation should take into account the lateral variations of shell structure. I construct here the theory of non-uniform viscoelastic thin shells, allowing for depth-dependent rheology and large lateral variations of shell thickness and rheology. Coupling to tides yields two 2D linear partial differential equations of the fourth order on the sphere which take into account self-gravity, density stratification below the shell, and core viscoelasticity. If the shell is laterally uniform, the solution agrees with analytical formulas for tidal Love numbers; errors on displacements and stresses are less than 5% and 15%, respectively, if the thickness is less than 10% of the radius. If the shell is non-uniform, the tidal thin shell equations are solved as a system of coupled linear equations in a spherical harmonic basis. Compared to finite element models, thin shell predictions are similar for the deformations due to Enceladus's pressurized ocean, but differ for the tides of Ganymede. If Enceladus's shell is conductive with isostatic thickness variations, surface stresses are approximately inversely proportional to the local shell thickness. The radial tide is only moderately enhanced at the south pole. The combination of crustal thinning and convection below the poles can amplify south polar stresses by a factor of 10, but it cannot explain the apparent time lag between the maximum plume brightness and the opening of tiger stripes. In a second paper, I will study the impact of a non-uniform crust on tidal dissipation.

Epitaxy of semiconductor-superconductor nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krogstrup, P.; Ziino, N. L. B.; Chang, W.; Albrecht, S. M.; Madsen, M. H.; Johnson, E.; Nygård, J.; Marcus, C. M.; Jespersen, T. S.

2015-04-01

Controlling the properties of semiconductor/metal interfaces is a powerful method for designing functionality and improving the performance of electrical devices. Recently semiconductor/superconductor hybrids have appeared as an important example where the atomic scale uniformity of the interface plays a key role in determining the quality of the induced superconducting gap. Here we present epitaxial growth of semiconductor-metal core-shell nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy, a method that provides a conceptually new route to controlled electrical contacting of nanostructures and the design of devices for specialized applications such as topological and gate-controlled superconducting electronics. Our materials of choice, InAs/Al grown with epitaxially matched single-plane interfaces, and alternative semiconductor/metal combinations allowing epitaxial interface matching in nanowires are discussed. We formulate the grain growth kinetics of the metal phase in general terms of continuum parameters and bicrystal symmetries. The method realizes the ultimate limit of uniform interfaces and seems to solve the soft-gap problem in superconducting hybrid structures.

Non-Hookean Mechanics of Crystalline Membranes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicholl, Ryan J. T.

The goal of the thesis is to explore the effect of crumpling on the mechanics of graphene--the ultimate thin membrane. The effect due to crumpling on the mechanical response of 2D materials is almost universally ignored in prior experiments. This is because the most widely used measurement schemes require high and non-uniform applied stress that suppresses crumpling. Experiments that do probe the interplay between crumpling and graphene mechanics remain highly challenging. To measure the mechanical effects of crumpling we need to develop a new measurement scheme which can apply low and uniform stress, allow non-invasive topography measurements, and be applicable at cryogenic temperatures. The motivating questions of this thesis are the following: • How does out-of plane crumpling affect the mechanical constants of 2D materials? • How do we implement measurement techniques sensitive to crumpling? • Can we identify sources of crumpling and distinguish between static and dynamic crumpling? • Can we tune the mechanical properties of 2D materials by controlling crumpling?

New Flexible Channels for Room Temperature Tunneling Field Effect Transistors

DOE PAGES

Hao, Boyi; Asthana, Anjana; Hazaveh, Paniz Khanmohammadi; ...

2016-02-05

Tunneling field effect transistors (TFETs) have been proposed to overcome the fundamental issues of Si based transistors, such as short channel effect, finite leakage current, and high contact resistance. Unfortunately, most if not all TFETs are operational only at cryogenic temperatures. Here we report that iron (Fe) quantum dots functionalized boron nitride nanotubes (QDs-BNNTs) can be used as the flexible tunneling channels of TFETs at room temperatures. The electrical insulating BNNTs are used as the one-dimensional (1D) substrates to confine the uniform formation of Fe QDs on their surface as the flexible tunneling channel. Consistent semiconductor-like transport behaviors under variousmore » bending conditions are detected by scanning tunneling spectroscopy in a transmission electron microscopy system (insitu STM-TEM). Ultimately, as suggested by computer simulation, the uniform distribution of Fe QDs enable an averaging effect on the possible electron tunneling pathways, which is responsible for the consistent transport properties that are not sensitive to bending.« less

New Flexible Channels for Room Temperature Tunneling Field Effect Transistors

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

Hao, Boyi; Asthana, Anjana; Hazaveh, Paniz Khanmohammadi

Tunneling field effect transistors (TFETs) have been proposed to overcome the fundamental issues of Si based transistors, such as short channel effect, finite leakage current, and high contact resistance. Unfortunately, most if not all TFETs are operational only at cryogenic temperatures. Here we report that iron (Fe) quantum dots functionalized boron nitride nanotubes (QDs-BNNTs) can be used as the flexible tunneling channels of TFETs at room temperatures. The electrical insulating BNNTs are used as the one-dimensional (1D) substrates to confine the uniform formation of Fe QDs on their surface as the flexible tunneling channel. Consistent semiconductor-like transport behaviors under variousmore » bending conditions are detected by scanning tunneling spectroscopy in a transmission electron microscopy system (insitu STM-TEM). Ultimately, as suggested by computer simulation, the uniform distribution of Fe QDs enable an averaging effect on the possible electron tunneling pathways, which is responsible for the consistent transport properties that are not sensitive to bending.« less

Spatial aspects of tree mortality strongly differ between young and old-growth forests.

PubMed

Larson, Andrew J; Lutz, James A; Donato, Daniel C; Freund, James A; Swanson, Mark E; HilleRisLambers, Janneke; Sprugel, Douglas G; Franklin, Jerry F

2015-11-01

Rates and spatial patterns of tree mortality are predicted to change during forest structural development. In young forests, mortality should be primarily density dependent due to competition for light, leading to an increasingly spatially uniform pattern of surviving trees. In contrast, mortality in old-growth forests should be primarily caused by contagious and spatially autocorrelated agents (e.g., insects, wind), causing spatial aggregation of surviving trees to increase through time. We tested these predictions by contrasting a three-decade record of tree mortality from replicated mapped permanent plots located in young (< 60-year-old) and old-growth (> 300-year-old) Abies amabilis forests. Trees in young forests died at a rate of 4.42% per year, whereas trees in old-growth forests died at 0.60% per year. Tree mortality in young forests was significantly aggregated, strongly density dependent, and caused live tree patterns to become more uniform through time. Mortality in old-growth forests was spatially aggregated, but was density independent and did not change the spatial pattern of surviving trees. These results extend current theory by demonstrating that density-dependent competitive mortality leading to increasingly uniform tree spacing in young forests ultimately transitions late in succession to a more diverse tree mortality regime that maintains spatial heterogeneity through time.

Spatially-resolved HPGe Gamma-ray Spectroscopy of Swipe Samples

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

McDonald, Benjamin S.; VanDevender, Brent A.; Wood, Lynn S.

Measurement of swipe samples is a critical element of the National Technical Nuclear Forensics (NTNF) mission. A unique, portable, germanium gamma imager (GeGI-s) from PHDS Co may provide complementary information to current techniques for swipe sample screening. The GeGI-s is a modified version of the commercial GeGI-4, a planar HPGe detector, capable of several million counts per second across the whole detector. The GeGI-s detector is a prototype of a commercial off-the-shelf high rate GeGI. The high rate capability allows high-activity samples be placed directly on the face of the detector. Utilizing the high energy resolution and pixelization of themore » detector, the GeGI-s can generate isotope specific spatial maps of the materials on the swipe sample. To prove this technology is viable for such mapping, the GeGI-s detector response to spatially distributed events must be well characterized. The detection efficiency as a function of location has been characterized to understand the non-uniformities presented as a collimated photon beam was rastered vertically and horizontally across the face of the detector. The detection efficiency as a function of location has been characterized to understand the non-uniformities presented as a collimated photon beam was rastered vertically and horizontally across the face of the detector. The response was found to be primarily uniform and symmetric, however two causes of non-uniformity were found. Both of these causes can ultimately be corrected for in off-line data analysis.« less

Manufacture of small calibre quadruple lamina vascular bypass grafts using a novel automated extrusion-phase-inversion method and nanocomposite polymer.

PubMed

Sarkar, Sandip; Burriesci, Gaetano; Wojcik, Adam; Aresti, Nicholas; Hamilton, George; Seifalian, Alexander M

2009-04-16

Long-term patency of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) small calibre cardiovascular bypass prostheses (<6mm) is poor because of thrombosis and intimal hyperplasia due to low compliance, stimulating the search for elastic alternatives. Wall porosity allows effective post-implantation graft healing, encouraging endothelialisation and a measured fibrovascular response. We have developed a novel poly (carbonate) urethane-based nanocomposite polymer incorporating polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanocages (UCL-NANO) which shows anti-thrombogenicity and biostability. We report an extrusion-phase-inversion technique for manufacturing uniform-walled porous conduits using UCL-NANO. Image analysis-aided wall measurement showed that two uniform wall-thicknesses could be specified. Different coagulant conditions revealed the importance of low-temperature phase-inversion for graft integrity. Although minor reduction of pore-size variation resulted from the addition of ethanol or N,N-dimethylacetamide, high concentrations of ethanol as coagulant did not provide uniform porosity throughout the wall. Tensile testing showed the grafts to be elastic with strength being directly proportional to weight. The ultimate strengths achieved were above those expected from haemodynamic conditions, with anisotropy due to the manufacturing process. Elemental analysis by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis did not show a regional variation of POSS on the lumen or outer surface. In conclusion, the automated vertical extrusion-phase-inversion device can reproducibly fabricate uniform-walled small calibre conduits from UCL-NANO. These elastic microporous grafts demonstrate favourable mechanical integrity for haemodynamic exposure and are currently undergoing in-vivo evaluation of durability and healing properties.

New exponential stability criteria for stochastic BAM neural networks with impulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sakthivel, R.; Samidurai, R.; Anthoni, S. M.

2010-10-01

In this paper, we study the global exponential stability of time-delayed stochastic bidirectional associative memory neural networks with impulses and Markovian jumping parameters. A generalized activation function is considered, and traditional assumptions on the boundedness, monotony and differentiability of activation functions are removed. We obtain a new set of sufficient conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities, which ensures the global exponential stability of the unique equilibrium point for stochastic BAM neural networks with impulses. The Lyapunov function method with the Itô differential rule is employed for achieving the required result. Moreover, a numerical example is provided to show that the proposed result improves the allowable upper bound of delays over some existing results in the literature.

The large-time behavior of the scalar, genuinely nonlinear Lax-Friedrichs scheme

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tadmor, E.

1983-01-01

The Lax-Friedrichs scheme, approximating the scalar, genuinely nonlinear conservation law u sub t + f sub x (u) = 0 where f(u) is, say, strictly convex double dot f dot a sub asterisk 0 is studied. The divided differences of the numerical solution at time t do not exceed 2 (t dot a sub asterisk) to the -1. This one-sided Lipschitz boundedness is in complete agreement with the corresponding estimate one has in the differential case; in particular, it is independent of the initial amplitude in sharp contrast to liner problems. It guarantees the entropy compactness of the scheme in this case, as well as providing a quantitive insight into the large-time behavior of the numerical computation.

Dynamical properties of a prey-predator-scavenger model with quadratic harvesting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, R. P.; Chandra, Peeyush

2017-08-01

In this paper, we propose and analyze an extended model for the prey-predator-scavenger in presence of harvesting to study the effects of harvesting of predator as well as scavenger. The positivity, boundedness and persistence conditions are derived for the proposed model. The model undergoes a Hopf-bifurcation around the co-existing equilibrium point. It is also observed that the model is capable of exhibiting period doubling route to chaos. It is pointed out that a suitable amount of harvesting of predator can control the chaotic dynamics and make the system stable. An extensive numerical simulation is performed to validate the analytic findings. The associated control problem for the proposed model has been analyzed for optimal harvesting.

DC servomechanism parameter identification: a Closed Loop Input Error approach.

PubMed

Garrido, Ruben; Miranda, Roger

2012-01-01

This paper presents a Closed Loop Input Error (CLIE) approach for on-line parametric estimation of a continuous-time model of a DC servomechanism functioning in closed loop. A standard Proportional Derivative (PD) position controller stabilizes the loop without requiring knowledge on the servomechanism parameters. The analysis of the identification algorithm takes into account the control law employed for closing the loop. The model contains four parameters that depend on the servo inertia, viscous, and Coulomb friction as well as on a constant disturbance. Lyapunov stability theory permits assessing boundedness of the signals associated to the identification algorithm. Experiments on a laboratory prototype allows evaluating the performance of the approach. Copyright © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A mathematical model for CTL effect on a latently infected cell inclusive HIV dynamics and treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarfulea, N. E.

2017-10-01

This paper investigates theoretically and numerically the effect of immune effectors, such as the cytotoxic lymphocyte (CTL), in modeling HIV pathogenesis (via a newly developed mathematical model); our results suggest the significant impact of the immune response on the control of the virus during primary infection. Qualitative aspects (including positivity, boundedness, stability, uncertainty, and sensitivity analysis) are addressed. Additionally, by introducing drug therapy, we analyze numerically the model to assess the effect of treatment consisting of a combination of several antiretroviral drugs. Our results show that the inclusion of the CTL compartment produces a higher rebound for an individual's healthy helper T-cell compartment than drug therapy alone. Furthermore, we quantitatively characterize successful drugs or drug combination scenarios.

The Schwinger Model on S 1: Hamiltonian Formulation, Vacuum and Anomaly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stuart, David

2014-12-01

We present a Hamiltonian formulation of the Schwinger model with spatial domain taken to be the circle. It is shown that, in Coulomb gauge, the Hamiltonian is a semi-bounded, self-adjoint operator which is invariant under the group of large gauge transformations. There is a nontrivial action of on fermionic Fock space and its vacuum. This action plays a role analogous to that played by the spectral flow in the infinite Dirac sea formalism. The formulation allows (1) a description of the anomaly and its relation to the group action, and (2) an explicit identification of the vacuum. The anomaly in the chiral conservation law appears as a consequence of insisting upon semi-boundedness and gauge invariance of the quantized Hamiltonian.

Reducing Uncertainties in Neutron Induced Fission Cross Sections via a Time Projection Chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magee, Joshua; Niffte Collaboration

2016-09-01

Neutron induced fission cross sections of actinides are of great interest in nuclear energy and stockpile stewardship. Traditionally, measurements of these cross sections have been made with fission chambers, which provide limited information on the actual fragments, and ultimately result in uncertainties on the order of several percent. The Neutron Induced Fission Fragment Tracking Experiment collaboration (NIFFTE) designed and built a fission Time Project Chamber (fission TPC), which provides additional information on these processes, through 3-dimensional tracking, improved particle identification, and in-situ profiles of target and beam non-uniformities. Ultimately, this should provide sub-percent measurements of (n,f) cross-sections. During the 2015 run cycle, measurements of several actinides were performed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) Weapons Neutron Research (WNR) facility. An overview of the fission TPC will be given, as well as the current progress towards a sub-percent measurement of the 239Pu/235U (n,f) cross-section ratio. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

A New Measurement of Neutron Induced Fission Cross Sections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magee, Joshua; Niffte Collaboration

2017-09-01

Neutron induced fission cross sections of actinides are of great interest in nuclear energy and stockpile stewardship. Traditionally, measurements of these cross sections have been made with fission chambers, which provide limited information on the actual fragments, and ultimately result in uncertainties on the order of several percent. The Neutron Induced Fission ragment Tracking Experiment (NIFFTE) collaboration designed and built a fission Time Projection Chamber (fissionTPC), which provides additional information on these processes, through 3-dimensional tracking, improved particle identification, and in-situ profiles of target and beam non-uniformities. Ultimately, this should provide sub-percent measurements of (n,f) cross-sections. During the 2016 run cycle, measurements of the 238U(n,f)/235U(n,f) cross section shape was performed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) Weapons Neutron Research (WNR) facility. An overview of the fission TPC will be given, as well as these recently reported results. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

In Search of Multi-Peaked Reflective Spectrum with Optic Fiber Bragg Grating Sensor for Dynamic Strain Measurement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tai, Hsiang

2006-01-01

In a typical optic fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain measurement, unless in an ideal static laboratory environment, the presence of vibration or often disturbance always exists, which often creates spurious multiple peaks in the reflected spectrum, resulting in a non-unique determination of strain value. In this report we attempt to investigate the origin of this phenomenon by physical arguments and simple numerical simulation. We postulate that the fiber gratings execute small amplitude transverse vibrations changing the optical path in which the reflected light traverses slightly and non-uniformly. Ultimately, this causes the multi-peak reflected spectrum.

Adaptive back-stepping control of the harmonic drive system with LuGre model-based friction compensation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Sen; Gang, Tieqiang

2018-03-01

Harmonic drives are widely used in aerospace and industrial robots. Flexibility, friction and parameter uncertainty will result in transmission performance degradation. In this paper, an adaptive back-stepping method with friction compensation is proposed to improve the tracking performance of the harmonic drive system. The nonlinear friction is described by LuGre model and compensated with a friction observer, and the uncertainty of model parameters is resolved by adaptive parameter estimation method. By using Lyapunov stability theory, it is proved that all the errors of the closed-loop system are uniformly ultimately bounded. Simulations illustrate the effectiveness of our friction compensation method.

Initial steps toward automation of a propellant processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schallhorn, Paul; Ramohalli, Kumar

1990-01-01

This paper presents the results from an experimental study aimed at ultimately automating the mixing of propellants in order to minimize unintended variations usually attributed to human error. The water heater and delivery system of a one-pint Baker-Perkins (APV) vertical mixer are automated with computer control. Various innovations are employed to introduce economy and low thermal inertia. Some of these include twin heaters/reservoirs instead of one large reservoir, a compact water mixer for achieving the desired temperature quickly, and thorough insulation of the entire water system. The completed system is tested during two propellant mixes. The temperature uniformly is proven through careful measurements employing several local thermocouples.

[Sensory integration: hierarchy and synchronization].

PubMed

Kriukov, V I

2005-01-01

This is the first in the series of mini-reviews devoted to the basic problems and most important effects of attention in terms of neuronal modeling. We believe that the absence of the unified view on wealth of new date on attention is the main obstacle for further understanding of higher nervous activity. The present work deals with the main ground problem of reconciling two competing architectures designed to integrate the sensory information in the brain. The other mini-reviews will be concerned with the remaining five or six problems of attention, all of them to be ultimately resolved uniformly in the framework of small modification of dominant model of attention and memory.

Nitrogen transport within an agricultural landscape: insights on how hydrology, biogeochemistry, and the landscape intersect to control the fate and transport of nitrogen in the Mississippi Delta

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barlow, Jeannie R.; Kröger, Robert

2014-01-01

Nitrogen (N) is a ubiquitous contaminant throughout agricultural landscapes due to both the application of inorganic and organic fertilizers to agricultural fields and the general persistence of nitrate (NO3 ) in oxygenated aqueous environments (Denver et al. 2010; Domagalski et al. 2008; Green et al. 2008; Coupe 2001; Nolan and Stoner 2000). In order to understand why excess N occurs various hydrologic systems (environments), it is important to consider potential sources, the locations of these sources in the watershed, and the timing of the application of sources with respect to the movement of water. To learn how to manage N in a watershed, it is necessary to identify and quantify flow paths and biogeochemical conditions, which ultimately combine to determine transport and fate. If sources, transport mechanisms, and biogeochemical controls were uniformly distributed, it would be possible to manage N uniformly throughout a watershed. However, uniform conditions are rare to nonexistent in the natural world and in the landscape altered for agricultural production. In order to adjust management activities on the landscape to have the greatest effect, it is important to understand the fate and transport N within the intersection of hydrology and biogeochemistry, that is, to understand the extent and duration of the hydrologic and biogeochemical controls as N is routed through and among each hydrologic compartment.

Methods and computer executable instructions for rapidly calculating simulated particle transport through geometrically modeled treatment volumes having uniform volume elements for use in radiotherapy

DOEpatents

Frandsen, Michael W.; Wessol, Daniel E.; Wheeler, Floyd J.

2001-01-16

Methods and computer executable instructions are disclosed for ultimately developing a dosimetry plan for a treatment volume targeted for irradiation during cancer therapy. The dosimetry plan is available in "real-time" which especially enhances clinical use for in vivo applications. The real-time is achieved because of the novel geometric model constructed for the planned treatment volume which, in turn, allows for rapid calculations to be performed for simulated movements of particles along particle tracks there through. The particles are exemplary representations of neutrons emanating from a neutron source during BNCT. In a preferred embodiment, a medical image having a plurality of pixels of information representative of a treatment volume is obtained. The pixels are: (i) converted into a plurality of substantially uniform volume elements having substantially the same shape and volume of the pixels; and (ii) arranged into a geometric model of the treatment volume. An anatomical material associated with each uniform volume element is defined and stored. Thereafter, a movement of a particle along a particle track is defined through the geometric model along a primary direction of movement that begins in a starting element of the uniform volume elements and traverses to a next element of the uniform volume elements. The particle movement along the particle track is effectuated in integer based increments along the primary direction of movement until a position of intersection occurs that represents a condition where the anatomical material of the next element is substantially different from the anatomical material of the starting element. This position of intersection is then useful for indicating whether a neutron has been captured, scattered or exited from the geometric model. From this intersection, a distribution of radiation doses can be computed for use in the cancer therapy. The foregoing represents an advance in computational times by multiple factors of time magnitudes.

Two systems drive attention to rewards.

PubMed

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

2014-01-01

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

Two systems drive attention to rewards

PubMed Central

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

2014-01-01

How options are framed can dramatically influence choice preference. While salience of information plays a central role in this effect, precisely how it is mediated by attentional processes remains unknown. Current models assume a simple relationship between attention and choice, according to which preference should be uniformly biased towards the attended item over the whole time-course of a decision between similarly valued items. To test this prediction we considered how framing alters the orienting of gaze during a simple choice between two options, using eye movements as a sensitive online measure of attention. In one condition participants selected the less preferred item to discard and in the other, the more preferred item to keep. We found that gaze gravitates towards the item ultimately selected, but did not observe the effect to be uniform over time. Instead, we found evidence for distinct early and late processes that guide attention according to preference in the first case and task demands in the second. We conclude that multiple time-dependent processes govern attention during choice, and that these may contribute to framing effects in different ways. PMID:24550868

Brownmillerite thin films as fast ion conductors for ultimate-performance resistance switching memory.

PubMed

Acharya, Susant Kumar; Jo, Janghyun; Raveendra, Nallagatlla Venkata; Dash, Umasankar; Kim, Miyoung; Baik, Hionsuck; Lee, Sangik; Park, Bae Ho; Lee, Jae Sung; Chae, Seung Chul; Hwang, Cheol Seong; Jung, Chang Uk

2017-07-27

An oxide-based resistance memory is a leading candidate to replace Si-based flash memory as it meets the emerging specifications for future memory devices. The non-uniformity in the key switching parameters and low endurance in conventional resistance memory devices are preventing its practical application. Here, a novel strategy to overcome the aforementioned challenges has been unveiled by tuning the growth direction of epitaxial brownmillerite SrFeO 2.5 thin films along the SrTiO 3 [111] direction so that the oxygen vacancy channels can connect both the top and bottom electrodes rather directly. The controlled oxygen vacancy channels help reduce the randomness of the conducting filament (CF). The resulting device displayed high endurance over 10 6 cycles, and a short switching time of ∼10 ns. In addition, the device showed very high uniformity in the key switching parameters for device-to-device and within a device. This work demonstrates a feasible example for improving the nanoscale device performance by controlling the atomic structure of a functional oxide layer.

New horizon for high performance Mg-based biomaterial with uniform degradation behavior: Formation of stacking faults

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jinghuai; Xu, Chi; Jing, Yongbin; Lv, Shuhui; Liu, Shujuan; Fang, Daqing; Zhuang, Jinpeng; Zhang, Milin; Wu, Ruizhi

2015-01-01

Designing the new microstructure is an effective way to accelerate the biomedical application of magnesium (Mg) alloys. In this study, a novel Mg–8Er–1Zn alloy with profuse nano-spaced basal plane stacking faults (SFs) was prepared by combined processes of direct-chill semi-continuous casting, heat-treatment and hot-extrusion. The formation of SFs made the alloy possess outstanding comprehensive performance as the biodegradable implant material. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS: 318 MPa), tensile yield strength (TYS: 207 MPa) and elongation (21%) of the alloy with SFs were superior to those of most reported degradable Mg-based alloys. This new alloy showed acceptable biotoxicity and degradation rate (0.34 mm/year), and the latter could be further slowed down through optimizing the microstructure. Most amazing of all, the uniquely uniform in vitro/vivo corrosion behavior was obtained due to the formation of SFs. Accordingly we proposed an original corrosion mechanism for the novel Mg alloy with SFs. The present study opens a new horizon for developing new Mg-based biomaterials with highly desirable performances. PMID:26349676

Use of photostress and strain gages to analyze behavior of weldments and use of photostress and strain gages to analyze behavior of an aft skirt test specimen

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gambrell, S. C.; Karr, Gerald R.

1993-01-01

Previous work using Photostress on TIG welded, heat treated specimens of 2219-T87 parent material and 2319 weld material indicated that behavior of the joint can be highly irregular and non-uniform. Welded joints 1.40 inches thick exhibited a totally non-uniform behavior through the weld thickness with the 'wide' side of the weld being much more ductile than the 'narrow' side. It is believed that this difference in behavior through the weld is, in part, caused by procedures used when laying the weld bead. Joints similar to weldments in references 1 and 2 are an integral part of the aft skirt of the SRB of the shuttle. Since the ultimate safety factor for the lower portion of the weld is below the minimum required safety factor, a photostress analysis of this lower portion will be conducted in the vicinity of the weld. A test program using photostress will be conducted in accordance with the project planning document entitled 'Photostress Evaluation Requirements for AFT Skirt Test Article No. 4'.

Global asymptotic stability to a generalized Cohen-Grossberg BAM neural networks of neutral type delays.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhengqiu; Liu, Wenbin; Zhou, Dongming

2012-01-01

In this paper, we first discuss the existence of a unique equilibrium point of a generalized Cohen-Grossberg BAM neural networks of neutral type delays by means of the Homeomorphism theory and inequality technique. Then, by applying the existence result of an equilibrium point and constructing a Lyapunov functional, we study the global asymptotic stability of the equilibrium solution to the above Cohen-Grossberg BAM neural networks of neutral type. In our results, the hypothesis for boundedness in the existing paper, which discussed Cohen-Grossberg neural networks of neutral type on the activation functions, are removed. Finally, we give an example to demonstrate the validity of our global asymptotic stability result for the above neural networks. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Finite-time robust passive control for a class of switched reaction-diffusion stochastic complex dynamical networks with coupling delays and impulsive control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syed Ali, M.; Yogambigai, J.; Kwon, O. M.

2018-03-01

Finite-time boundedness and finite-time passivity for a class of switched stochastic complex dynamical networks (CDNs) with coupling delays, parameter uncertainties, reaction-diffusion term and impulsive control are studied. Novel finite-time synchronisation criteria are derived based on passivity theory. This paper proposes a CDN consisting of N linearly and diffusively coupled identical reaction- diffusion neural networks. By constructing of a suitable Lyapunov-Krasovskii's functional and utilisation of Jensen's inequality and Wirtinger's inequality, new finite-time passivity criteria for the networks are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which can be checked numerically using the effective LMI toolbox in MATLAB. Finally, two interesting numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Analysis of A Virus Dynamics Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Baolin; Li, Jianquan; Li, Jia; Zhao, Xin

2018-03-01

In order to more accurately characterize the virus infection in the host, a virus dynamics model with latency and virulence is established and analyzed in this paper. The positivity and boundedness of the solution are proved. After obtaining the basic reproduction number and the existence of infected equilibrium, the Lyapunov method and the LaSalle invariance principle are used to determine the stability of the uninfected equilibrium and infected equilibrium by constructing appropriate Lyapunov functions. We prove that, when the basic reproduction number does not exceed 1, the uninfected equilibrium is globally stable, the virus can be cleared eventually; when the basic reproduction number is more than 1, the infected equilibrium is globally stable, the virus will persist in the host at a certain level. The effect of virulence and latency on infection is also discussed.

A stochastic electricity market clearing formulation with consistent pricing properties

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

Zavala, Victor M.; Kim, Kibaek; Anitescu, Mihai

We argue that deterministic market clearing formulations introduce arbitrary distortions between day-ahead and expected real-time prices that bias economic incentives. We extend and analyze a previously proposed stochastic clearing formulation in which the social surplus function induces penalties between day-ahead and real-time quantities. We prove that the formulation yields price bounded price distortions, and we show that adding a similar penalty term to transmission flows and phase angles ensures boundedness throughout the network. We prove that when the price distortions are zero, day-ahead quantities equal a quantile of their real-time counterparts. The undesired effects of price distortions suggest that stochasticmore » settings provide significant benefits over deterministic ones that go beyond social surplus improvements. Finally, we propose additional metrics to evaluate these benefits.« less

Disturbance observer based active and adaptive synchronization of energy resource chaotic system.

PubMed

Wei, Wei; Wang, Meng; Li, Donghai; Zuo, Min; Wang, Xiaoyi

2016-11-01

In this paper, synchronization of a three-dimensional energy resource chaotic system is considered. For the sake of achieving the synchronization between the drive and response systems, two different nonlinear control approaches, i.e. active control with known parameters and adaptive control with unknown parameters, have been designed. In order to guarantee the transient performance, finite-time boundedness (FTB) and finite-time stability (FTS) are introduced in the design of active control and adaptive control, respectively. Simultaneously, in view of the existence of disturbances, a new disturbance observer is proposed to estimate the disturbance. The conditions of the asymptotic stability for the closed-loop system are obtained. Numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the proposed approaches. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Some series of intuitionistic fuzzy interactive averaging aggregation operators.

PubMed

Garg, Harish

2016-01-01

In this paper, some series of new intuitionistic fuzzy averaging aggregation operators has been presented under the intuitionistic fuzzy sets environment. For this, some shortcoming of the existing operators are firstly highlighted and then new operational law, by considering the hesitation degree between the membership functions, has been proposed to overcome these. Based on these new operation laws, some new averaging aggregation operators namely, intuitionistic fuzzy Hamacher interactive weighted averaging, ordered weighted averaging and hybrid weighted averaging operators, labeled as IFHIWA, IFHIOWA and IFHIHWA respectively has been proposed. Furthermore, some desirable properties such as idempotency, boundedness, homogeneity etc. are studied. Finally, a multi-criteria decision making method has been presented based on proposed operators for selecting the best alternative. A comparative concelebration between the proposed operators and the existing operators are investigated in detail.

Petri net modelling of buffers in automated manufacturing systems.

PubMed

Zhou, M; Dicesare, F

1996-01-01

This paper presents Petri net models of buffers and a methodology by which buffers can be included in a system without introducing deadlocks or overflows. The context is automated manufacturing. The buffers and models are classified as random order or order preserved (first-in-first-out or last-in-first-out), single-input-single-output or multiple-input-multiple-output, part type and/or space distinguishable or indistinguishable, and bounded or safe. Theoretical results for the development of Petri net models which include buffer modules are developed. This theory provides the conditions under which the system properties of boundedness, liveness, and reversibility are preserved. The results are illustrated through two manufacturing system examples: a multiple machine and multiple buffer production line and an automatic storage and retrieval system in the context of flexible manufacturing.

A stochastic electricity market clearing formulation with consistent pricing properties

DOE PAGES

Zavala, Victor M.; Kim, Kibaek; Anitescu, Mihai; ...

2017-03-16

We argue that deterministic market clearing formulations introduce arbitrary distortions between day-ahead and expected real-time prices that bias economic incentives. We extend and analyze a previously proposed stochastic clearing formulation in which the social surplus function induces penalties between day-ahead and real-time quantities. We prove that the formulation yields price bounded price distortions, and we show that adding a similar penalty term to transmission flows and phase angles ensures boundedness throughout the network. We prove that when the price distortions are zero, day-ahead quantities equal a quantile of their real-time counterparts. The undesired effects of price distortions suggest that stochasticmore » settings provide significant benefits over deterministic ones that go beyond social surplus improvements. Finally, we propose additional metrics to evaluate these benefits.« less

Convergence and attractivity of memristor-based cellular neural networks with time delays.

PubMed

Qin, Sitian; Wang, Jun; Xue, Xiaoping

2015-03-01

This paper presents theoretical results on the convergence and attractivity of memristor-based cellular neural networks (MCNNs) with time delays. Based on a realistic memristor model, an MCNN is modeled using a differential inclusion. The essential boundedness of its global solutions is proven. The state of MCNNs is further proven to be convergent to a critical-point set located in saturated region of the activation function, when the initial state locates in a saturated region. It is shown that the state convergence time period is finite and can be quantitatively estimated using given parameters. Furthermore, the positive invariance and attractivity of state in non-saturated regions are also proven. The simulation results of several numerical examples are provided to substantiate the results. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mathematical problems arising in interfacial electrohydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tseluiko, Dmitri

In this work we consider the nonlinear stability of thin films in the presence of electric fields. We study a perfectly conducting thin film flow down an inclined plane in the presence of an electric field which is uniform in its undisturbed state, and normal to the plate at infinity. In addition, the effect of normal electric fields on films lying above, or hanging from, horizontal substrates is considered. Systematic asymptotic expansions are used to derive fully nonlinear long wave model equations for the scaled interface motion and corresponding flow fields. For the case of an inclined plane, higher order terms are need to be retained to regularize the problem in the sense that the long wave approximation remains valid for long times. For the case of a horizontal plane the fully nonlinear evolution equation which is derived at the leading order, is asymptotically correct and no regularization procedure is required. In both physical situations, the effect of the electric field is to introduce a non-local term which arises from the potential region above the liquid film, and enters through the electric Maxwell stresses at the interface. This term is always linearly destabilizing and produces growth rates proportional to the cubic power of the wavenumber - surface tension is included and provides a short wavelength cut-off, that is, all sufficiently short waves are linearly stable. For the case of film flow down an inclined plane, the fully nonlinear equation can produce singular solutions (for certain parameter values) after a finite time, even in the absence of an electric field. This difficulty is avoided at smaller amplitudes where the weakly nonlinear evolution is governed by an extension of the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky (KS) equation. Global existence and uniqueness results are proved, and refined estimates of the radius of the absorbing ball in L2 are obtained in terms of the parameters of the equations for a generalized class of modified KS equations. The established estimates are compared with numerical solutions of the equations which in turn suggest an optimal upper bound for the radius of the absorbing ball. A scaling argument is used to explain this, and a general conjecture is made based on extensive computations. We also carry out a complete study of the nonlinear behavior of competing physical mechanisms: long wave instability above a critical Reynolds number, short wave damping due to surface tension and intermediate growth due to the electric field. Through a combination of analysis and extensive numerical experiments, we elucidate parameter regimes that support non-uniform travelling waves, time-periodic travelling waves and complex nonlinear dynamics including chaotic interfacial oscillations. It is established that a sufficiently high electric field will drive the system to chaotic oscillations, even when the Reynolds number is smaller than the critical value below which the non-electrified problem is linearly stable. A particular case of this is Stokes flow, which is known to be stable for this class of problems (an analogous statement holds for horizontally supported films also). Our theoretical results indicate that such highly stable flows can be rendered unstable by using electric fields. This opens the way for possible heat and mass transfer applications which can benefit significantly from interfacial oscillations and interfacial turbulence. For the case of a horizontal plane, a weakly nonlinear theory is not possible due to the absence of the shear flow generated by the gravitational force along the plate when the latter is inclined. We study the fully nonlinear equation, which in this case is asymptotically correct and is obtained at the leading order. The model equation describes both overlying and hanging films - in the former case gravity is stabilizing while in the latter it is destabilizing. The numerical and theoretical analysis of the fully nonlinear evolution is complicated by the fact that the coefficients of the highest order terms (surface tension in this instance) are nonlinear. We implement a fully implicit two level numerical scheme and perform numerical experiments. We also prove global boundedness of positive periodic smooth solutions, using an appropriate energy functional. This global boundedness result is seen in all our numerical results. Through a combination of analysis and extensive numerical experiments we present evidence for global existence of positive smooth solutions. This means, in turn, that the film does not touch the wall in finite time but asymptotically at infinite time. Numerical solutions are presented to support such phenomena.

Formation Control for Water-Jet USV Based on Bio-Inspired Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Ming-yu; Wang, Duan-song; Wang, Cheng-long

2018-03-01

The formation control problem for underactuated unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) is addressed by a distributed strategy based on virtual leader strategy. The control system takes account of disturbance induced by external environment. With the coordinate transformation, the advantage of the proposed scheme is that the control point can be any point of the ship instead of the center of gravity. By introducing bio-inspired model, the formation control problem is addressed with backstepping method. This avoids complicated computation, simplifies the control law, and smoothes the input signals. The system uniform ultimate boundness is proven by Lyapunov stability theory with Young inequality. Simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness and robust of the proposed controller.

Adaptive Formation Control of Electrically Driven Nonholonomic Mobile Robots With Limited Information.

PubMed

Bong Seok Park; Jin Bae Park; Yoon Ho Choi

2011-08-01

We present a leader-follower-based adaptive formation control method for electrically driven nonholonomic mobile robots with limited information. First, an adaptive observer is developed under the condition that the velocity measurement is not available. With the proposed adaptive observer, the formation control part is designed to achieve the desired formation and guarantee the collision avoidance. In addition, neural network is employed to compensate the actuator saturation, and the projection algorithm is used to estimate the velocity information of the leader. It is shown, by using the Lyapunov theory, that all errors of the closed-loop system are uniformly ultimately bounded. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed control system.

Determining a Criminal Defendant's Competency to Proceed With an Extradition Hearing.

PubMed

Piel, Jennifer; Finkle, Michael J; Giske, Megan; Leong, Gregory B

2015-06-01

When a criminal defendant flees from one state (often referred to as the requesting state) to another (often referred to as the asylum state), the requesting state can demand that the asylum state return the defendant through a process called extradition. Only a handful of states have considered a fugitive's right to be competent to proceed with an extradition hearing. Those states fall into three categories. Some states apply the same standard as in criminal trial competency cases. Others apply a more limited competency standard. Two have found that a fugitive has no right to be competent to proceed in an extradition hearing. The particular legal test adopted affects the nature and scope of the competency evaluation conducted by the psychiatrist or psychologist in the extradition hearing. In addition, we are not aware of any state that has considered what happens to the fugitive if he is ultimately found not competent to proceed. Legislation, either state by state or through amendments to the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, can provide the legal and psychiatric communities with guidance in assessing competency initially and in taking appropriate steps if the fugitive is ultimately found not competent. © 2015 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

Chaotic Dynamics of a Josephson Junction with a Ratchet Potential and Current-Modulating Damping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Fei; Li, Wenwu; Xu, Lan

2018-06-01

The chaotic dynamics of a Josephson junction with a ratchet potential and current-modulating damping are studied. Under the first-order approximation, we construct the general solution of the first-order equation whose boundedness condition contains the famous Melnikov chaotic criterion. Based on the general solution, the incomputability and unpredictability of the system's chaotic behavior are discussed. For the case beyond perturbation conditions, the evolution of stroboscopic Poincaré sections shows that the system undergoes a quasi-periodic transition to chaos with an increasing intensity of the rf-current. Through a suitable feedback controlling strategy, the chaos can be effectively suppressed and the intensity of the controller can vary in a large range. It is also found that the current between the two separated superconductors increases monotonously in some specific parameter spaces.

Robust adaptive cruise control of high speed trains.

PubMed

Faieghi, Mohammadreza; Jalali, Aliakbar; Mashhadi, Seyed Kamal-e-ddin Mousavi

2014-03-01

The cruise control problem of high speed trains in the presence of unknown parameters and external disturbances is considered. In particular a Lyapunov-based robust adaptive controller is presented to achieve asymptotic tracking and disturbance rejection. The system under consideration is nonlinear, MIMO and non-minimum phase. To deal with the limitations arising from the unstable zero-dynamics we do an output redefinition such that the zero-dynamics with respect to new outputs becomes stable. Rigorous stability analyses are presented which establish the boundedness of all the internal states and simultaneously asymptotic stability of the tracking error dynamics. The results are presented for two common configurations of high speed trains, i.e. the DD and PPD designs, based on the multi-body model and are verified by several numerical simulations. Copyright © 2013 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Finite-time output feedback control of uncertain switched systems via sliding mode design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Haijuan; Niu, Yugang; Song, Jun

2018-04-01

The problem of sliding mode control (SMC) is investigated for a class of uncertain switched systems subject to unmeasurable state and assigned finite (possible short) time constraint. A key issue is how to ensure the finite-time boundedness (FTB) of system state during reaching phase and sliding motion phase. To this end, a state observer is constructed to estimate the unmeasured states. And then, a state estimate-based SMC law is designed such that the state trajectories can be driven onto the specified integral sliding surface during the assigned finite time interval. By means of partitioning strategy, the corresponding FTB over reaching phase and sliding motion phase are guaranteed and the sufficient conditions are derived via average dwell time technique. Finally, an illustrative example is given to illustrate the proposed method.

Chaotic Dynamics of a Josephson Junction with a Ratchet Potential and Current-Modulating Damping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Fei; Li, Wenwu; Xu, Lan

2018-04-01

The chaotic dynamics of a Josephson junction with a ratchet potential and current-modulating damping are studied. Under the first-order approximation, we construct the general solution of the first-order equation whose boundedness condition contains the famous Melnikov chaotic criterion. Based on the general solution, the incomputability and unpredictability of the system's chaotic behavior are discussed. For the case beyond perturbation conditions, the evolution of stroboscopic Poincaré sections shows that the system undergoes a quasi-periodic transition to chaos with an increasing intensity of the rf-current. Through a suitable feedback controlling strategy, the chaos can be effectively suppressed and the intensity of the controller can vary in a large range. It is also found that the current between the two separated superconductors increases monotonously in some specific parameter spaces.

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.

Observer-Based Adaptive NN Control for a Class of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems With Nonsymmetric Input Saturation.

PubMed

Yong-Feng Gao; Xi-Ming Sun; Changyun Wen; Wei Wang

2017-07-01

This paper is concerned with the problem of adaptive tracking control for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with nonsymmetric input saturation and immeasurable states. The radial basis function of neural network (NN) is employed to approximate unknown functions, and an NN state observer is designed to estimate the immeasurable states. To analyze the effect of input saturation, an auxiliary system is employed. By the aid of adaptive backstepping technique, an adaptive tracking control approach is developed. Under the proposed adaptive tracking controller, the boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system is achieved. Moreover, distinct from most of the existing references, the tracking error can be bounded by an explicit function of design parameters and saturation input error. Finally, an example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Development of a center for light ion therapy and accurate tumor diagnostics at karolinska institutet and hospital

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brahme, Anders; Lind, Bengt K.

2002-04-01

Radiation therapy is today in a state of very rapid development with new intensity modulated treatment techniques continuously being developed. This has made intensity modulated electron and photon beams almost as powerful as conventional uniform beam proton therapy. To be able to cure also the most advanced hypoxic and radiation resistant tumors of complex local spread, intensity modulated light ion beams are really the ultimate tool and only slightly more expensive than proton therapy. The aim of the new center for ion therapy and tumor diagnostics in Stockholm is to develop radiobiologically optimized 3-dimensional pencil beam scanning techniques. Beside the "classical" approaches using low ionization density hydrogen ions (protons, but also deuterons and tritium nuclei) and high ionization density carbon ions, two new approaches will be developed. In the first one lithium or beryllium ions, that induce the least detrimental biological effect to normal tissues for a given biological effect in a small volume of the tumor, will be key particles. In the second approach, referred patients will be given a high-dose high-precision "boost" treatment with carbon or oxygen ions during one week preceding the final treatment with conventional radiations in the referring hospital. The rationale behind these approaches is to reduce the high ionization density dose to the normal tissue stroma inside the tumor and to ensure a microscopically uniform dose delivery. The principal idea of the center is to closely integrate ion therapy into the clinical routine and research of a large radiotherapy department. The light ion therapy center will therefore be combined with advanced tumor diagnostics including MR and PET-CT imaging to facilitate efficient high-precision high-dose boost treatment of remitted patients. The possibility to do 3D tumor diagnostics and 3D dose delivery verification with the same PET camera will be the ultimate step in high quality adaptive radiation therapy where alterations in the delivered dose can be corrected by subsequent treatments

Tensile Property of ANSI 304 Stainless Steel Weldments Subjected to Cavitation Erosion Based on Treatment of Laser Shock Processing.

PubMed

Zhang, Lei; Liu, Yue-Hua; Luo, Kai-Yu; Zhang, Yong-Kang; Zhao, Yong; Huang, Jian-Yun; Wu, Xu-Dong; Zhou, Chuang

2018-05-16

Tensile property was one important index of mechanical properties of ANSI 304 stainless steel laser weldments subjected to cavitation erosion (CE). Laser shock processing (LSP) was utilized to strengthen the CE resistance, and the tensile property and fracture morphology were analyzed through three replicated experiment times. Results showed tensile process of treated weldments was composed of elastic deformation, plastic deformation, and fracture. The elastic limit, elastic modulus, elongation, area reduction, and ultimate tensile strength of tensile sample after CE were higher in view of LSP. In the fracture surface, the fiber zone, radiation zone and shear lip zone were generated, and those were more obvious through LSP. The number and size of pores in the fracture surface were smaller, and the fracture surface was smoother and more uniform. The dimples were elongated along the unified direction due to effects of LSP, and the elongated direction was in agreement with the crack propagation direction. Their distribution and shape were uniform with deeper depth. It could be reflected that the tensile property was improved by LSP and the CE resistance was also enhanced.

Quantitative image fusion in infrared radiometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romm, Iliya; Cukurel, Beni

2018-05-01

Towards high-accuracy infrared radiance estimates, measurement practices and processing techniques aimed to achieve quantitative image fusion using a set of multi-exposure images of a static scene are reviewed. The conventional non-uniformity correction technique is extended, as the original is incompatible with quantitative fusion. Recognizing the inherent limitations of even the extended non-uniformity correction, an alternative measurement methodology, which relies on estimates of the detector bias using self-calibration, is developed. Combining data from multi-exposure images, two novel image fusion techniques that ultimately provide high tonal fidelity of a photoquantity are considered: ‘subtract-then-fuse’, which conducts image subtraction in the camera output domain and partially negates the bias frame contribution common to both the dark and scene frames; and ‘fuse-then-subtract’, which reconstructs the bias frame explicitly and conducts image fusion independently for the dark and the scene frames, followed by subtraction in the photoquantity domain. The performances of the different techniques are evaluated for various synthetic and experimental data, identifying the factors contributing to potential degradation of the image quality. The findings reflect the superiority of the ‘fuse-then-subtract’ approach, conducting image fusion via per-pixel nonlinear weighted least squares optimization.

Tensile Property of ANSI 304 Stainless Steel Weldments Subjected to Cavitation Erosion Based on Treatment of Laser Shock Processing

PubMed Central

Zhang, Lei; Liu, Yue-Hua; Luo, Kai-Yu; Zhang, Yong-Kang; Zhao, Yong; Huang, Jian-Yun; Wu, Xu-Dong; Zhou, Chuang

2018-01-01

Tensile property was one important index of mechanical properties of ANSI 304 stainless steel laser weldments subjected to cavitation erosion (CE). Laser shock processing (LSP) was utilized to strengthen the CE resistance, and the tensile property and fracture morphology were analyzed through three replicated experiment times. Results showed tensile process of treated weldments was composed of elastic deformation, plastic deformation, and fracture. The elastic limit, elastic modulus, elongation, area reduction, and ultimate tensile strength of tensile sample after CE were higher in view of LSP. In the fracture surface, the fiber zone, radiation zone and shear lip zone were generated, and those were more obvious through LSP. The number and size of pores in the fracture surface were smaller, and the fracture surface was smoother and more uniform. The dimples were elongated along the unified direction due to effects of LSP, and the elongated direction was in agreement with the crack propagation direction. Their distribution and shape were uniform with deeper depth. It could be reflected that the tensile property was improved by LSP and the CE resistance was also enhanced. PMID:29772661

The Joule heating problem in silver nanowire transparent electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khaligh, H. H.; Xu, L.; Khosropour, A.; Madeira, A.; Romano, M.; Pradére, C.; Tréguer-Delapierre, M.; Servant, L.; Pope, M. A.; Goldthorpe, I. A.

2017-10-01

Silver nanowire transparent electrodes have shown considerable potential to replace conventional transparent conductive materials. However, in this report we show that Joule heating is a unique and serious problem with these electrodes. When conducting current densities encountered in organic solar cells, the average surface temperature of indium tin oxide (ITO) and silver nanowire electrodes, both with sheet resistances of 60 ohms/square, remains below 35 °C. However, in contrast to ITO, the temperature in the nanowire electrode is very non-uniform, with some localized points reaching temperatures above 250 °C. These hotspots accelerate nanowire degradation, leading to electrode failure after 5 days of continuous current flow. We show that graphene, a commonly used passivation layer for these electrodes, slows nanowire degradation and creates a more uniform surface temperature under current flow. However, the graphene does not prevent Joule heating in the nanowires and local points of high temperature ultimately shift the failure mechanism from nanowire degradation to melting of the underlying plastic substrate. In this paper, surface temperature mapping, lifetime testing under current flow, post-mortem analysis, and modelling illuminate the behaviour and failure mechanisms of nanowires under extended current flow and provide guidelines for managing Joule heating.

A cross-shear deformation for optimizing the strength and ductility of AZ31 magnesium alloys

PubMed Central

Hamad, Kotiba; Ko, Young Gun

2016-01-01

Magnesium alloys have recently attracted great interest due their lightweight and high specific strength. However, because of their hexagonal close-packed structure, they have few active slip systems, resulting in poor ductility and high mechanical anisotropy at room temperature. In the present work, we used a cross-shear deformation imposed by a differential speed rolling (DSR) technique to improve the room temperature strength and ductility of AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets. To introduce the cross-shear deformation, the sheets were rotated 180° around their longitudinal axis between the adjacent passes of DSR. The sheets of the AZ31 alloy subjected to the cross-shear deformation showed a uniform fine microstructure (1.2 ± 0.1 μm) with weak basal textures. The fabricated sheets showed a simultaneous high ultimate tensile strength and elongation-to-failure, i.e., ~333 MPa and ~21%, respectively. These were explained based on the structural features evolved due to the cross-shear deformation by DSR. The high strength was attributed to the uniform fine microstructure, whereas the high ductility was explained based on the basal texture weakening. PMID:27406685

Analysis of Dependence of the Properties of Alloy V95 on the Pressure Applied to Crystallizing Metal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korostelev, V. F.; Khromova, L. P.; Denisov, M. S.

2017-05-01

Results of a study aimed at formation of a single-phase fine-grained structure in pistons from aluminum alloy V95 in the process of their fabrication, which involves isostatic pressing of liquid metal before the start of crystallization, application of pressure to the crystallizing metal, and holding under pressure in the process of cooling to the shop temperature, are presented. The ultimate strength and the structure of alloy V95 after casting with imposition of pressure are determined. An example of application of the method suggested for fabricating cast billets ∅ 82 × 70 mm in size with a uniform dense structure without gas shrinkage defects, volume and dendritic segregation is considered.

Adaptive fuzzy wavelet network control of second order multi-agent systems with unknown nonlinear dynamics.

PubMed

Taheri, Mehdi; Sheikholeslam, Farid; Najafi, Majddedin; Zekri, Maryam

2017-07-01

In this paper, consensus problem is considered for second order multi-agent systems with unknown nonlinear dynamics under undirected graphs. A novel distributed control strategy is suggested for leaderless systems based on adaptive fuzzy wavelet networks. Adaptive fuzzy wavelet networks are employed to compensate for the effect of unknown nonlinear dynamics. Moreover, the proposed method is developed for leader following systems and leader following systems with state time delays. Lyapunov functions are applied to prove uniformly ultimately bounded stability of closed loop systems and to obtain adaptive laws. Three simulation examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithms. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of Carbon Nanofibers/A356 Nanocomposites by High-Intensity Ultrasonic Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Qing-Jie; Yan, Hong

2018-03-01

A356 alloy reinforced with carbon nanofibers (CNFs) was fabricated by high-intensity ultrasonic vibration processing. The microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. The distribution of CNFs became more and more uniform with the increase of ultrasonic power, and the mechanical properties of nanocomposites were significantly enhanced accordingly. The yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), and microhardness of the nanocomposite increased by 38.3, 21.9, and 43.2 pct, respectively, at a CNF content of 0.9 wt pct compared with the matrix without CNF addition. The improvement in mechanical properties was the effect of CNFs on the thermal expansion mismatch strengthening of the nanocomposite, the grain refinement of the nanocomposite, and the load transfer from the matrix to the nanofibers.

Dielectrophoretic separation of Bacillus subtilis spores from environmental diesel particles.

PubMed

Fatoyinbo, Henry O; Hughes, Michael P; Martin, Stacey P; Pashby, Paul; Labeed, Fatima H

2007-01-01

Isolation of pathogenic bacteria from non-biological material of similar size is a vital sample preparation step in the identification of such organisms, particularly in the context of detecting bio-terrorist attacks. However, many detection methods are impeded by particulate contamination from the environment such as those from engine exhausts. In this paper we use dielectrophoresis--the induced motion of particles in non-uniform fields--to successfully remove over 99% of diesel particulates acquired from environmental samples, whilst letting bacterial spores of B. subtilis pass through the chamber largely unimpeded. We believe that such a device has tremendous potential as a precursor to a range of detection methods, improving the signal-to-noise ratio and ultimately improving detection rates.

Analytical Modelling of Transverse Matrix Cracking of [plus or minus Theta/90(sub n)](sub s) Composite Laminates Under Multiaxial Loading

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayugo, J A.; Camanho, P. P.; Maimi, P.; Davila, C. G.

2010-01-01

An analytical model based on the analysis of a cracked unit cell of a composite laminate subjected to multiaxial loads is proposed to predict the onset and accumulation of transverse matrix cracks in the 90(sub n) plies of uniformly stressed [plus or minus Theta/90(sub n)](sub s) laminates. The model predicts the effect of matrix cracks on the stiffness of the laminate, as well as the ultimate failure of the laminate, and it accounts for the effect of the ply thickness on the ply strength. Several examples describing the predictions of laminate response, from damage onset up to final failure under both uniaxial and multiaxial loads, are presented.

Adaptive integral dynamic surface control of a hypersonic flight vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aslam Butt, Waseem; Yan, Lin; Amezquita S., Kendrick

2015-07-01

In this article, non-linear adaptive dynamic surface air speed and flight path angle control designs are presented for the longitudinal dynamics of a flexible hypersonic flight vehicle. The tracking performance of the control design is enhanced by introducing a novel integral term that caters to avoiding a large initial control signal. To ensure feasibility, the design scheme incorporates magnitude and rate constraints on the actuator commands. The uncertain non-linear functions are approximated by an efficient use of the neural networks to reduce the computational load. A detailed stability analysis shows that all closed-loop signals are uniformly ultimately bounded and the ? tracking performance is guaranteed. The robustness of the design scheme is verified through numerical simulations of the flexible flight vehicle model.

Fabrication of Carbon Nanofibers/A356 Nanocomposites by High-Intensity Ultrasonic Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Qing-Jie; Yan, Hong

2018-06-01

A356 alloy reinforced with carbon nanofibers (CNFs) was fabricated by high-intensity ultrasonic vibration processing. The microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. The distribution of CNFs became more and more uniform with the increase of ultrasonic power, and the mechanical properties of nanocomposites were significantly enhanced accordingly. The yield strength (YS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), and microhardness of the nanocomposite increased by 38.3, 21.9, and 43.2 pct, respectively, at a CNF content of 0.9 wt pct compared with the matrix without CNF addition. The improvement in mechanical properties was the effect of CNFs on the thermal expansion mismatch strengthening of the nanocomposite, the grain refinement of the nanocomposite, and the load transfer from the matrix to the nanofibers.

Cells Respond to Distinct Nanoparticle Properties with Multiple Strategies As Revealed by Single-Cell RNA-Seq

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

Mitchell, Hugh D.; Markillie, Lye Meng; Chrisler, William B.

The impact of distinct nanoparticle (NP) properties on cellular response and ultimately human health is unclear. This gap is partially due to experimental difficulties in achieving uniform NP loads in the studied cells, creating heterogeneous populations with some cells “overloaded” while other cells are loaded with few or no NPs. Yet gene expression studies have been conducted in the population as a whole, identifying generic responses, while missing unique responses due to signal averaging across many cells, each carrying different loads. Here we applied single-cell RNA-Seq to alveolar epithelial cells carrying defined loads of aminated or carboxylated quantum dots (QDs),more » showing higher or lower toxicity, respectively. Interestingly, cells carrying lower loads responded with multiple strategies, mostly with upregulated processes, which were nonetheless coherent and unique to each QD type. In contrast, cells carrying higher loads responded more uniformly, with mostly downregulated processes that were shared across QD types. Strategies unique to aminated QDs showed strong upregulation of stress responses, coupled in some cases with regulation of cell cycle, protein synthesis and organelle activities. In contrast, strategies unique to carboxylated QDs showed upregulation of DNA repair and RNA activities, and decreased regulation of cell division, coupled in some cases with upregulation of stress responses and ATP related functions. Together, our studies suggest scenarios where higher NP loads lock cells into uniform responses, mostly shutdown of cellular processes, whereas lower loads allow for unique responses to each NP type that are more diversified, proactive defenses or repairs of the NP insults.« less

Feasibility of Plasma Treated Clay in Clay/Polymer Nanocomposites Powders for use Laser Sintering (LS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almansoori, Alaa; Seabright, Ryan; Majewski, C.; Rodenburg, C.

2017-05-01

The addition of small quantities of nano-clay to nylon is known to improve mechanical properties of the resulting nano-composite. However, achieving a uniform dispersion and distribution of the clay within the base polymer can prove difficult. A demonstration of the fabrication and characterization of plasma-treated organoclay/Nylon12 nanocomposite was carried out with the aim of achieving better dispersion of clay platelets on the Nylon12 particle surface. Air-plasma etching was used to enhance the compatibility between clays and polymers to ensure a uniform clay dispersion in composite powders. Downward heat sintering (DHS) in a hot press is used to process neat and composite powders into tensile and XRD specimens. Morphological studies using Low Voltage Scanning Electron Microscopy (LV-SEM) were undertaken to characterize the fracture surfaces and clay dispersion in powders and final composite specimens. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) testing performed that the etched clay (EC) is more stable than the nonetched clay (NEC), even at higher temperatures. The influence of the clay ratio and the clay plasma treatment process on the mechanical properties of the nanocomposites was studied by tensile testing. The composite fabricated from (3% EC/N12) powder showed ~19 % improvement in elastic modulus while the composite made from (3% NEC/N12) powder was improved by only 14%). Most notably however is that the variation between tests is strongly reduced when etch clay is used in the composite. We attribute this to a more uniform distribution and better dispersion of the plasma treated clay within polymer powders and ultimately the composite.

Aircraft symmetric flight optimization. [gradient techniques for supersonic aircraft control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Falco, M.; Kelley, H. J.

1973-01-01

Review of the development of gradient techniques and their application to aircraft optimal performance computations in the vertical plane of flight. Results obtained using the method of gradients are presented for attitude- and throttle-control programs which extremize the fuel, range, and time performance indices subject to various trajectory and control constraints, including boundedness of engine throttle control. A penalty function treatment of state inequality constraints which generally appear in aircraft performance problems is outlined. Numerical results for maximum-range, minimum-fuel, and minimum-time climb paths for a hypothetical supersonic turbojet interceptor are presented and discussed. In addition, minimum-fuel climb paths subject to various levels of ground overpressure intensity constraint are indicated for a representative supersonic transport. A variant of the Gel'fand-Tsetlin 'method of ravines' is reviewed, and two possibilities for further development of continuous gradient processes are cited - namely, a projection version of conjugate gradients and a curvilinear search.

Weakly Nonergodic Dynamics in the Gross-Pitaevskii Lattice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mithun, Thudiyangal; Kati, Yagmur; Danieli, Carlo; Flach, Sergej

2018-05-01

The microcanonical Gross-Pitaevskii (also known as the semiclassical Bose-Hubbard) lattice model dynamics is characterized by a pair of energy and norm densities. The grand canonical Gibbs distribution fails to describe a part of the density space, due to the boundedness of its kinetic energy spectrum. We define Poincaré equilibrium manifolds and compute the statistics of microcanonical excursion times off them. The tails of the distribution functions quantify the proximity of the many-body dynamics to a weakly nonergodic phase, which occurs when the average excursion time is infinite. We find that a crossover to weakly nonergodic dynamics takes place inside the non-Gibbs phase, being unnoticed by the largest Lyapunov exponent. In the ergodic part of the non-Gibbs phase, the Gibbs distribution should be replaced by an unknown modified one. We relate our findings to the corresponding integrable limit, close to which the actions are interacting through a short range coupling network.

On the analysis of competitive displacement in dengue disease transmission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wijaya, Karunia P.; Nuraini, Nuning; Soewono, Edy; Handayani, Dewi

2014-03-01

We study a host-vector model involving the interplay of competitive displacement mechanism in a specific DENV serotype, both in human blood and mosquito blood. Using phylogenetic analysis, world virologists investigate the severe manifestations of dengue fever caused by the displacements within weakly virulent pathogens (native strains) by more virulent pathogens (invasive strains) in one serotype. We construct SIR model for human and SI model for mosquito to explore the key determinants of those displacements. Analysis of nonnegativity and boundedness of the solution as well as the basic reproduction number (R0) are taken into account for verifying the model into biological meaningfulness. To generate predictions of the outcomes of control strategies, we derive an optimal control model which involves two control apparatus: fluid infusion (for human) and fumigation (for vector). Numerical results show the dynamics of host-vector in an observation period, both under control and without control.

Comparing functional responses in predator-infected eco-epidemics models.

PubMed

Haque, Mainul; Rahman, Md Sabiar; Venturino, Ezio

2013-11-01

The current paper deals with the mathematical models of predator-prey system where a transmissible disease spreads among the predator species only. Four mathematical models are proposed and analysed with several popular predator functional responses in order to show the influence of functional response on eco-epidemic models. The existence, boundedness, uniqueness of solutions of all the models are established. Mathematical analysis including stability and bifurcation are observed. Comparison among the results of these models allows the general conclusion that relevant behaviour of the eco-epidemic predator-prey system, including switching of stability, extinction, persistence and oscillations for any species depends on four important parameters viz. the rate of infection, predator interspecies competition and the attack rate on susceptible predator. The paper ends with a discussion of the biological implications of the analytical and numerical results. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemotaxis with logistic source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winkler, Michael

2008-12-01

We consider the chemotaxis system in a smooth bounded domain , where [chi]>0 and g generalizes the logistic function g(u)=Au-bu[alpha] with [alpha]>1, A[greater-or-equal, slanted]0 and b>0. A concept of very weak solutions is introduced, and global existence of such solutions for any nonnegative initial data u0[set membership, variant]L1([Omega]) is proved under the assumption that . Moreover, boundedness properties of the constructed solutions are studied. Inter alia, it is shown that if b is sufficiently large and u0[set membership, variant]L[infinity]([Omega]) has small norm in L[gamma]([Omega]) for some then the solution is globally bounded. Finally, in the case that additionally holds, a bounded set in L[infinity]([Omega]) can be found which eventually attracts very weak solutions emanating from arbitrary L1 initial data. The paper closes with numerical experiments that illustrate some of the theoretically established results.

Enhanced robust finite-time passivity for Markovian jumping discrete-time BAM neural networks with leakage delay.

PubMed

Sowmiya, C; Raja, R; Cao, Jinde; Rajchakit, G; Alsaedi, Ahmed

2017-01-01

This paper is concerned with the problem of enhanced results on robust finite-time passivity for uncertain discrete-time Markovian jumping BAM delayed neural networks with leakage delay. By implementing a proper Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional candidate, the reciprocally convex combination method together with linear matrix inequality technique, several sufficient conditions are derived for varying the passivity of discrete-time BAM neural networks. An important feature presented in our paper is that we utilize the reciprocally convex combination lemma in the main section and the relevance of that lemma arises from the derivation of stability by using Jensen's inequality. Further, the zero inequalities help to propose the sufficient conditions for finite-time boundedness and passivity for uncertainties. Finally, the enhancement of the feasible region of the proposed criteria is shown via numerical examples with simulation to illustrate the applicability and usefulness of the proposed method.

Distributed Adaptive Containment Control for a Class of Nonlinear Multiagent Systems With Input Quantization.

PubMed

Wang, Chenliang; Wen, Changyun; Hu, Qinglei; Wang, Wei; Zhang, Xiuyu

2018-06-01

This paper is devoted to distributed adaptive containment control for a class of nonlinear multiagent systems with input quantization. By employing a matrix factorization and a novel matrix normalization technique, some assumptions involving control gain matrices in existing results are relaxed. By fusing the techniques of sliding mode control and backstepping control, a two-step design method is proposed to construct controllers and, with the aid of neural networks, all system nonlinearities are allowed to be unknown. Moreover, a linear time-varying model and a similarity transformation are introduced to circumvent the obstacle brought by quantization, and the controllers need no information about the quantizer parameters. The proposed scheme is able to ensure the boundedness of all closed-loop signals and steer the containment errors into an arbitrarily small residual set. The simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the scheme.

Relative position coordinated control for spacecraft formation flying with communication delays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ran, Dechao; Chen, Xiaoqian; Misra, Arun K.; Xiao, Bing

2017-08-01

This study addresses a relative position coordinated control problem for spacecraft formation flying subject to directed communication topology. Two different kinds of communication delay cases, including time-varying delays and arbitrarily bounded delays are investigated. Using the backstepping control technique, two virtual velocity control inputs are firstly designed to achieve coordinated position tracking for the kinematic subsystem. Furthermore, a hyperbolic tangent function is introduced to guarantee the boundedness of the virtual controller. Then, a finite-time control algorithm is designed for the dynamic subsystem. It can guarantee that the virtual velocity can be followed by the real velocity after finite time. It is theoretically proved that the proposed control scheme can asymptotically stabilize the closed-loop system. Numerical simulations are further presented that not only highlight closed-loop performance benefiting from the proposed control scheme, but also illustrate its superiority in comparison with conventional formation control schemes.

Effects of extrusion and heat treatment on the mechanical properties and biocorrosion behaviors of a Mg-Nd-Zn-Zr alloy.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaobo; Yuan, Guangyin; Mao, Lin; Niu, Jialin; Fu, Penghuai; Ding, Wenjiang

2012-03-01

Mechanical properties at room temperature and biocorrosion behaviors in simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37 °C of a new type of patented Mg-3Nd-0.2Zn-0.4Zr (hereafter, denoted as JDBM) alloy prepared at different extrusion temperatures, as well as heat treatment, were studied. The mechanical properties of this magnesium alloy at room temperature were improved significantly after extrusion and heat treatment compared to an as-cast alloy. The results of mechanical properties show that the yield strength (YS) decreases with increasing extrusion temperature. The tensile elongation decreases a little while the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) has no obvious difference. The yield strength and ultimate tensile strength were improved clearly after heat treatment at 200 °C for 10 h compared with that at the extrusion state, which can be mainly contributed to the precipitation strengthening. The biocorrosion behaviors of the JDBM alloy were studied using immersion tests and electrochemical tests. The results reveal that the extruded JDBM alloy and the aging treatment on the extruded alloy show much better biocorrosion resistance than that at solid solution state (T4 treatment), and the JDBM exhibited favorable uniform corrosion mode in SBF. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conservative and bounded volume-of-fluid advection on unstructured grids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivey, Christopher B.; Moin, Parviz

2017-12-01

This paper presents a novel Eulerian-Lagrangian piecewise-linear interface calculation (PLIC) volume-of-fluid (VOF) advection method, which is three-dimensional, unsplit, and discretely conservative and bounded. The approach is developed with reference to a collocated node-based finite-volume two-phase flow solver that utilizes the median-dual mesh constructed from non-convex polyhedra. The proposed advection algorithm satisfies conservation and boundedness of the liquid volume fraction irrespective of the underlying flux polyhedron geometry, which differs from contemporary unsplit VOF schemes that prescribe topologically complicated flux polyhedron geometries in efforts to satisfy conservation. Instead of prescribing complicated flux-polyhedron geometries, which are prone to topological failures, our VOF advection scheme, the non-intersecting flux polyhedron advection (NIFPA) method, builds the flux polyhedron iteratively such that its intersection with neighboring flux polyhedra, and any other unavailable volume, is empty and its total volume matches the calculated flux volume. During each iteration, a candidate nominal flux polyhedron is extruded using an iteration dependent scalar. The candidate is subsequently intersected with the volume guaranteed available to it at the time of the flux calculation to generate the candidate flux polyhedron. The difference in the volume of the candidate flux polyhedron and the actual flux volume is used to calculate extrusion during the next iteration. The choice in nominal flux polyhedron impacts the cost and accuracy of the scheme; however, it does not impact the methods underlying conservation and boundedness. As such, various robust nominal flux polyhedron are proposed and tested using canonical periodic kinematic test cases: Zalesak's disk and two- and three-dimensional deformation. The tests are conducted on the median duals of a quadrilateral and triangular primal mesh, in two-dimensions, and on the median duals of a hexahedral, wedge and tetrahedral primal mesh, in three-dimensions. Comparisons are made with the adaptation of a conventional unsplit VOF advection scheme to our collocated node-based flow solver. Depending on the choice in the nominal flux polyhedron, the NIFPA scheme presented accuracies ranging from zeroth to second order and calculation times that differed by orders of magnitude. For the nominal flux polyhedra which demonstrate second-order accuracy on all tests and meshes, the NIFPA method's cost was comparable to the traditional topologically complex second-order accurate VOF advection scheme.

CFD based aerodynamic modeling to study flight dynamics of a flapping wing micro air vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rege, Alok Ashok

The demand for small unmanned air vehicles, commonly termed micro air vehicles or MAV's, is rapidly increasing. Driven by applications ranging from civil search-and-rescue missions to military surveillance missions, there is a rising level of interest and investment in better vehicle designs, and miniaturized components are enabling many rapid advances. The need to better understand fundamental aspects of flight for small vehicles has spawned a surge in high quality research in the area of micro air vehicles. These aircraft have a set of constraints which are, in many ways, considerably different from that of traditional aircraft and are often best addressed by a multidisciplinary approach. Fast-response non-linear controls, nano-structures, integrated propulsion and lift mechanisms, highly flexible structures, and low Reynolds aerodynamics are just a few of the important considerations which may be combined in the execution of MAV research. The main objective of this thesis is to derive a consistent nonlinear dynamic model to study the flight dynamics of micro air vehicles with a reasonably accurate representation of aerodynamic forces and moments. The research is divided into two sections. In the first section, derivation of the nonlinear dynamics of flapping wing micro air vehicles is presented. The flapping wing micro air vehicle (MAV) used in this research is modeled as a system of three rigid bodies: a body and two wings. The design is based on an insect called Drosophila Melanogaster, commonly known as fruit-fly. The mass and inertial effects of the wing on the body are neglected for the present work. The nonlinear dynamics is simulated with the aerodynamic data published in the open literature. The flapping frequency is used as the control input. Simulations are run for different cases of wing positions and the chosen parameters are studied for boundedness. Results show a qualitative inconsistency in boundedness for some cases, and demand a better aerodynamic data. The second part of research involves preliminary work required to generate new aerodynamic data for the nonlinear model. First, a computational mesh is created over a 2-D wing section of the MAV model. A finite volume based computational flow solver is used to test different flapping trajectories of the wing section. Finally, a parametric study of the results obtained from the tests is performed.

On the nature of global classification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wheelis, M. L.; Kandler, O.; Woese, C. R.

1992-01-01

Molecular sequencing technology has brought biology into the era of global (universal) classification. Methodologically and philosophically, global classification differs significantly from traditional, local classification. The need for uniformity requires that higher level taxa be defined on the molecular level in terms of universally homologous functions. A global classification should reflect both principal dimensions of the evolutionary process: genealogical relationship and quality and extent of divergence within a group. The ultimate purpose of a global classification is not simply information storage and retrieval; such a system should also function as an heuristic representation of the evolutionary paradigm that exerts a directing influence on the course of biology. The global system envisioned allows paraphyletic taxa. To retain maximal phylogenetic information in these cases, minor notational amendments in existing taxonomic conventions should be adopted.

Numerical Studies of an Array of Fluidic Diverter Actuators for Flow Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gokoglu, Suleyman A.; Kuczmarski, Maria A.; Culley, Dennis E.; Raghu, Surya

2011-01-01

In this paper, we study the effect of boundary conditions on the behavior of an array of uniformly-spaced fluidic diverters with an ultimate goal to passively control their output phase. This understanding will aid in the development of advanced designs of actuators for flow control applications in turbomachinery. Computations show that a potential design is capable of generating synchronous outputs for various inlet boundary conditions if the flow inside the array is initiated from quiescence. However, when the array operation is originally asynchronous, several approaches investigated numerically demonstrate that re-synchronization of the actuators in the array is not practical since it is very sensitive to asymmetric perturbations and imperfections. Experimental verification of the insights obtained from the present study is currently being pursued.

The Effect of Temperature and Rotational Speed on Structure and Mechanical Properties of Cast Cu Base Alloy (Cu-Al-Si-Fe) Welded by Semisolid Stir Joining Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferasat, Keyvan; Aashuri, Hossein; Kokabi, Amir Hossein; Shafizadeh, Mahdi; Nikzad, Siamak

2015-12-01

Semisolid stir joining has been under deliberation as a possible method for joining of copper alloys. In this study, the effect of temperature and rotational speed of stirrer on macrostructure evaluation and mechanical properties of samples were investigated. Optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction were performed for macro and microstructural analysis. A uniform micro-hardness profile was attained by semisolid stir joining method. The ultimate shear strength and bending strength of welded samples were improved in comparison with the cast sample. There is also lower area porosity in welded samples than the cast metal. The mechanical properties were improved by increasing temperature and rotational speed of the joining process.

Off-Policy Actor-Critic Structure for Optimal Control of Unknown Systems With Disturbances.

PubMed

Song, Ruizhuo; Lewis, Frank L; Wei, Qinglai; Zhang, Huaguang

2016-05-01

An optimal control method is developed for unknown continuous-time systems with unknown disturbances in this paper. The integral reinforcement learning (IRL) algorithm is presented to obtain the iterative control. Off-policy learning is used to allow the dynamics to be completely unknown. Neural networks are used to construct critic and action networks. It is shown that if there are unknown disturbances, off-policy IRL may not converge or may be biased. For reducing the influence of unknown disturbances, a disturbances compensation controller is added. It is proven that the weight errors are uniformly ultimately bounded based on Lyapunov techniques. Convergence of the Hamiltonian function is also proven. The simulation study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed optimal control method for unknown systems with disturbances.

Effects of ultrasonic vibration on microstructure and mechanical properties of nano-sized SiC particles reinforced Al-5Cu composites.

PubMed

Li, Jianyu; Lü, Shulin; Wu, Shusen; Gao, Qi

2018-04-01

Ultrasonic vibration (UV) treatment has been successfully applied to improve the particles distribution of nano-sized SiC particles (SiC p ) reinforced Al-5Cu alloy matrix composites which were prepared by combined processes of dry high energy ball milling and squeeze casting. When UV treatment is applied, the distribution of nano-sized SiC p has been greatly improved. After UV for 1 min, large particles aggregates are broken up into small aggregates due to effects of cavitation and the acoustic streaming. After UV for 5 min, all the particles aggregates are dispersed and the particles are uniformly distributed in the composites. Compared with the Al-5Cu matrix alloy, the ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and elongation of the 1 wt% nano-sized SiC p /Al-5Cu composites treated by UV for 5 min are 270 MPa, 173 MPa and 13.3%, which are increased by 7.6%, 6.8% and 29%, respectively. The improvements of mechanical properties after UV are attributed to the uniform distribution of nano particles, grain refinement of aluminum matrix alloy and reduction of porosity in the composites. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-Strength Konjac Glucomannan/Silver Nanowires Composite Films with Antibacterial Properties

PubMed Central

Lei, Jia; Zhou, Lei; Tang, Yongjian; Luo, Yong; Duan, Tao; Zhu, Wenkun

2017-01-01

Robust, high-strength and environmentally friendly antibacterial composite films were prepared by simply blending konjac glucomannan (KGM) and silver nanowires (Ag NWs) in an aqueous system. The samples were then characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis, mechanical property tests, Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and antimicrobial tests. The results showed that there was a high ratio of Ag NWs uniformly distributed in the composite films, which was vital for mechanical reinforcement and stable antibacterial properties. The enhanced thermal stability and mechanical intensity increased, while the elongation at break was reduced with an increase in the amount of Ag NWs found in the composite films. When the percentage of Ag NWs in the composite films reached 5%, the tensile strength was 148.21 MPa, Young’s modulus was 13.79 GPa and the ultimate strain was 25.28%. Antibacterial tests showed that the KGM films had no antibacterial effect. After the addition of Ag NWs, the composite films had an obvious inhibitory effect on bacteria, with the uniform dispersion of Ag NWs promoting the antibacterial effect to a certain degree. These results indicated that these composite films would have a potential application in the fields of environmentally friendly packaging or medicine. PMID:28772883

Driver speed selection on high-speed two-lane highways: Comparing speed profiles between uniform and differential speed limits.

PubMed

Russo, Brendan J; Savolainen, Peter T; Gates, Timothy J; Kay, Jonathan J; Frazier, Sterling

2017-07-04

Although a considerable amount of prior research has investigated the impacts of speed limits on traffic safety and operations, much of this research, and nearly all of the research related to differential speed limits, has been specific to limited access freeways. The unique safety and operational issues on highways without access control create difficulty relating the conclusions from prior freeway-related speed limit research to 2-lane highways, particularly research on differential limits due to passing limitations and subsequent queuing. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess differences in driver speed selection with respect to the posted speed limit on rural 2-lane highways, with a particular emphasis on the differences between uniform and differential speed limits. Data were collected from nearly 59,000 vehicles across 320 sites in Montana and 4 neighboring states. Differences in mean speeds, 85th percentile speeds, and the standard deviation in speeds for free-flowing vehicles were examined across these sites using ordinary least squares regression models. Ultimately, the results of the analysis show that the mean speed, 85th percentile speed, and variability in travel speeds for free-flowing vehicles on 2-lane highways are generally lower at locations with uniform 65 mph speed limits, compared to locations with differential limits of 70 mph for cars and 60 mph for trucks. In addition to posted speed limits, several site characteristics were shown to influence speed selection including shoulder widths, frequency of horizontal curves, percentage of the segment that included no passing zones, and hourly volumes. Differences in vehicle speed characteristics were also observed between states, indicating that speed selection may also be influenced by local factors, such as driver population or enforcement.

Cells respond to distinct nanoparticle properties with multiple strategies as revealed by single-cell RNA-Seq

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

Mitchell, Hugh D.; Markillie, Lye Meng; Chrisler, William B.

The impact of distinct nanoparticle (NP) properties on cellular response and ultimately human health is unclear. This gap is partially due to experimental difficulties in achieving uniform NP loads in the studied cells, creating heterogeneous populations with some cells “overloaded” while other cells are loaded with few or no NPs. Yet gene expression studies have been conducted in the population as a whole, identifying generic responses, while missing unique responses due to signal averaging across many cells, each carrying different loads. In this paper, we applied single-cell RNA-Seq to alveolar epithelial cells carrying defined loads of aminated or carboxylated quantummore » dots (QDs), showing higher or lower toxicity, respectively. Interestingly, cells carrying lower loads responded with multiple strategies, mostly with up-regulated processes, which were nonetheless coherent and unique to each QD type. In contrast, cells carrying higher loads responded more uniformly, with mostly down-regulated processes that were shared across QD types. Strategies unique to aminated QDs showed strong up-regulation of stress responses, coupled in some cases with regulation of cell cycle, protein synthesis, and organelle activities. In contrast, strategies unique to carboxylated QDs showed up-regulation of DNA repair and RNA activities and decreased regulation of cell division, coupled in some cases with up-regulation of stress responses and ATP-related functions. Finally, together, our studies suggest scenarios where higher NP loads lock cells into uniform responses, mostly shutdown of cellular processes, whereas lower loads allow for unique responses to each NP type that are more diversified proactive defenses or repairs of the NP insults.« less

Cells respond to distinct nanoparticle properties with multiple strategies as revealed by single-cell RNA-Seq

DOE PAGES

Mitchell, Hugh D.; Markillie, Lye Meng; Chrisler, William B.; ...

2016-10-27

The impact of distinct nanoparticle (NP) properties on cellular response and ultimately human health is unclear. This gap is partially due to experimental difficulties in achieving uniform NP loads in the studied cells, creating heterogeneous populations with some cells “overloaded” while other cells are loaded with few or no NPs. Yet gene expression studies have been conducted in the population as a whole, identifying generic responses, while missing unique responses due to signal averaging across many cells, each carrying different loads. In this paper, we applied single-cell RNA-Seq to alveolar epithelial cells carrying defined loads of aminated or carboxylated quantummore » dots (QDs), showing higher or lower toxicity, respectively. Interestingly, cells carrying lower loads responded with multiple strategies, mostly with up-regulated processes, which were nonetheless coherent and unique to each QD type. In contrast, cells carrying higher loads responded more uniformly, with mostly down-regulated processes that were shared across QD types. Strategies unique to aminated QDs showed strong up-regulation of stress responses, coupled in some cases with regulation of cell cycle, protein synthesis, and organelle activities. In contrast, strategies unique to carboxylated QDs showed up-regulation of DNA repair and RNA activities and decreased regulation of cell division, coupled in some cases with up-regulation of stress responses and ATP-related functions. Finally, together, our studies suggest scenarios where higher NP loads lock cells into uniform responses, mostly shutdown of cellular processes, whereas lower loads allow for unique responses to each NP type that are more diversified proactive defenses or repairs of the NP insults.« less

Characterization and assessment of different algorithms for retrieval of mean square slopes from GNSS-R measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clarizia, Maria Paola; Ruf, Christopher; Gommenginger, Christine

2013-04-01

Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R) exploits signals of opportunity from navigation constellations (e.g. GPS, GLONASS, Galileo), scattered by the surface of the ocean, to retrieve the surface wind and wave fields. GNSS-R represents a true innovation in remote sensing, and it is receiving a growing interest from the scientific community. Its main advantages lie in the dense space-time sampling capabilities, the ability of L-band signals to penetrate well through rain, and the possibility of simple, low-cost/low-power GNSS receivers. These recognized strengths of GNSS-R recently led to the approval of the NASA EV-2 Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), a spaceborne mission focused on tropical cyclone (TC) inner core process studies. CYGNSS attempts to resolve the problem of inadequate observations and modeling of the inner core, which represents the principal deficiency with current TC intensity forecasts, and which can be overcome with GNSS-R. The present study focuses on the information content about the sea surface roughness and wind speed, that is contained in spaceborne GNSS-R Delay-Doppler Maps (DDMs). A number of algorithms for the retrieval of Mean Square Slopes (MSS) - representative of the surface roughness - are analyzed. These include existing algorithms based on least-square fitting procedures (e.g. 2D least-square fitting of DDMs, using the Zavorotny-Voronovich DDM theoretical model), or based on direct observables (e.g. DDM volume), as well as "new" algorithms, which make use of waveforms derived from the DDM, which have thusfar been unexploited (e.g. integrated delay and Doppler waveforms). The analysis is carried out using simulated DDMs generated by the mature forward model end-to-end simulator developed for CYGNSS. A comparison of the results obtained for different retrieval algorithms will be presented. In particular, the performance of the algorithms considered is investigated and characterized for the case of significant non-uniform wind field across the scattering area, such as will be encountered in and near tropical cyclones. The impact of each algorithm, as well as of other parameters (e.g. the extent of the DDM), on the sensitivity of the results to non-uniform winds will be presented. The results are directly relevant to CYGNSS, where the ultimate objective is to produce standard gridded maps of retrieved wind fields from raw DDM measurements. The value of this research is twofold, in that it addresses the choice of the best algorithms to retrieve MSS and ultimately wind speed in extreme and non-uniform wind conditions, and also provides a first assessment of the data compression requirements and strategies that will be applied to DDMs for the CYGNSS mission.

Hollow spheres of iron carbide nanoparticles encased in graphitic layers as oxygen reduction catalysts.

PubMed

Hu, Yang; Jensen, Jens Oluf; Zhang, Wei; Cleemann, Lars N; Xing, Wei; Bjerrum, Niels J; Li, Qingfeng

2014-04-01

Nonprecious metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction are the ultimate materials and the foremost subject for low-temperature fuel cells. A novel type of catalysts prepared by high-pressure pyrolysis is reported. The catalyst is featured by hollow spherical morphologies consisting of uniform iron carbide (Fe3 C) nanoparticles encased by graphitic layers, with little surface nitrogen or metallic functionalities. In acidic media the outer graphitic layers stabilize the carbide nanoparticles without depriving them of their catalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). As a result the catalyst is highly active and stable in both acid and alkaline electrolytes. The synthetic approach, the carbide-based catalyst, the structure of the catalysts, and the proposed mechanism open new avenues for the development of ORR catalysts. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A new approach of optimal control for a class of continuous-time chaotic systems by an online ADP algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Rui-Zhuo; Xiao, Wen-Dong; Wei, Qing-Lai

2014-05-01

We develop an online adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) based optimal control scheme for continuous-time chaotic systems. The idea is to use the ADP algorithm to obtain the optimal control input that makes the performance index function reach an optimum. The expression of the performance index function for the chaotic system is first presented. The online ADP algorithm is presented to achieve optimal control. In the ADP structure, neural networks are used to construct a critic network and an action network, which can obtain an approximate performance index function and the control input, respectively. It is proven that the critic parameter error dynamics and the closed-loop chaotic systems are uniformly ultimately bounded exponentially. Our simulation results illustrate the performance of the established optimal control method.

Highly Loaded Composite Strut Test Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, K. C.; Jegley, Dawn C.; Barnard, Ansley; Phelps, James E.; McKeney, Martin J.

2011-01-01

Highly loaded composite struts from a proposed truss-based Altair lunar lander descent stage concept were selected for development under NASA's Advanced Composites Technology program. Predicted compressive member forces during launch and ascent of over -100,000 lbs were much greater than the tensile loads. Therefore, compressive failure modes, including structural stability, were primary design considerations. NASA's industry partner designed and built highly loaded struts that were delivered to NASA for testing. Their design, fabricated on a washout mandrel, had a uniform-diameter composite tube with composite tapered ends. Each tapered end contained a titanium end fitting with facing conical ramps that are overlaid and overwrapped with composite materials. The highly loaded struts were loaded in both tension and compression, with ultimate failure produced in compression. Results for the two struts tested are presented and discussed, along with measured deflections, strains and observed failure mechanisms.

Adaptive robust fault tolerant control design for a class of nonlinear uncertain MIMO systems with quantization.

PubMed

Ao, Wei; Song, Yongdong; Wen, Changyun

2017-05-01

In this paper, we investigate the adaptive control problem for a class of nonlinear uncertain MIMO systems with actuator faults and quantization effects. Under some mild conditions, an adaptive robust fault-tolerant control is developed to compensate the affects of uncertainties, actuator failures and errors caused by quantization, and a range of the parameters for these quantizers is established. Furthermore, a Lyapunov-like approach is adopted to demonstrate that the ultimately uniformly bounded output tracking error is guaranteed by the controller, and the signals of the closed-loop system are ensured to be bounded, even in the presence of at most m-q actuators stuck or outage. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to verify and illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive schemes. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Constructing Black Titania with Unique Nanocage Structure for Solar Desalination.

PubMed

Zhu, Guilian; Xu, Jijian; Zhao, Wenli; Huang, Fuqiang

2016-11-23

Solar desalination driven by solar radiation as heat source is freely available, however, hindered by low efficiency. Herein, we first design and synthesize black titania with a unique nanocage structure simultaneously with light trapping effect to enhance light harvesting, well-crystallized interconnected nanograins to accelerate the heat transfer from titania to water and with opening mesopores (4-10 nm) to facilitate the permeation of water vapor. Furthermore, the coated self-floating black titania nanocages film localizes the temperature increase at the water-air interface rather than uniformly heating the bulk of the water, which ultimately results in a solar-thermal conversion efficiency as high as 70.9% under a simulated solar light with an intensity of 1 kW m -2 (1 sun). This finding should inspire new black materials with rationally designed structure for superior solar desalination performance.

Modeling the complex shape evolution of sedimenting particle swarms in fractures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, C. A.; Nitsche, L.; Pyrak-Nolte, L. J.

2016-12-01

The flow of micro- and nano-particles through subsurface systems can occur in several environments, such as hydraulic fracturing or enhanced oil recovery. Computer simulations were performed to advance our understanding of the complexity of subsurface particle swarm transport in fractures. Previous experiments observed that particle swarms in fractures with uniform apertures exhibit enhanced transport speeds and suppressed bifurcations for an optimal range of apertures. Numerical simulations were performed for low Reynolds number, no interfacial tension and uniform viscosity conditions with particulate swarms represented by point-particles that mutually interact through their (regularized) Stokeslet fields. A P3 M technique accelerates the summations for swarms exceeding 105 particles. Fracture wall effects were incorporated using a least-squares variant of the method of fundamental solutions, with grid mapping of the surface force and source elements within the fast-summation scheme. The numerical study was executed on the basis of dimensionless variables and parameters, in the interest of examining the fundamental behavior and relationships of particle swarms in the presence of uniform apertures. Model parameters were representative of particle swarms experiments to enable direct comparison of the results with the experimental observations. The simulations confirmed that the principal phenomena observed in the experiments can be explained within the realm of Stokes flow. The numerical investigation effectively replicated swarm evolution in a uniform fracture and captured the coalescence, torus and tail formation, and ultimate breakup of the particle swarm as it fell under gravity in a quiescent fluid. The rate of swarm evolution depended on the number of particles in a swarm. When an ideal number of particles was used, swarm transport was characterized by an enhanced velocity regime as observed in the laboratory data. Understanding the physics particle swarms in fractured media will improve the ability to perform controlled micro-particulate transport through rock. Acknowledgment: This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Geosciences Research Program under Award Number (DE-FG02-09ER16022).

Robust state estimation for uncertain fuzzy bidirectional associative memory networks with time-varying delays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vadivel, P.; Sakthivel, R.; Mathiyalagan, K.; Arunkumar, A.

2013-09-01

This paper addresses the issue of robust state estimation for a class of fuzzy bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural networks with time-varying delays and parameter uncertainties. By constructing the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, which contains the triple-integral term and using the free-weighting matrix technique, a set of sufficient conditions are derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) to estimate the neuron states through available output measurements such that the dynamics of the estimation error system is robustly asymptotically stable. In particular, we consider a generalized activation function in which the traditional assumptions on the boundedness, monotony and differentiability of the activation functions are removed. More precisely, the design of the state estimator for such BAM neural networks can be obtained by solving some LMIs, which are dependent on the size of the time derivative of the time-varying delays. Finally, a numerical example with simulation result is given to illustrate the obtained theoretical results.

Scalar conservation and boundedness in simulations of compressible flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subbareddy, Pramod K.; Kartha, Anand; Candler, Graham V.

2017-11-01

With the proper combination of high-order, low-dissipation numerical methods, physics-based subgrid-scale models, and boundary conditions it is becoming possible to simulate many combustion flows at relevant conditions. However, non-premixed flows are a particular challenge because the thickness of the fuel/oxidizer interface scales inversely with Reynolds number. Sharp interfaces can also be present in the initial or boundary conditions. When higher-order numerical methods are used, there are often aphysical undershoots and overshoots in the scalar variables (e.g. passive scalars, species mass fractions or progress variable). These numerical issues are especially prominent when low-dissipation methods are used, since sharp jumps in flow variables are not always coincident with regions of strong variation in the scalar fields: consequently, special detection mechanisms and dissipative fluxes are needed. Most numerical methods diffuse the interface, resulting in artificial mixing and spurious reactions. In this paper, we propose a numerical method that mitigates this issue. We present methods for passive and active scalars, and demonstrate their effectiveness with several examples.

Advances in mosquito dynamics modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wijaya, Karunia Putra; Götz, Thomas; Soewono, Edy

2016-11-01

It is preliminarily known that Aedes mosquitoes are very close to humans and their dwellings, also give rises to a broad spectrum of diseases: dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya. In this paper, we explore a multi-age-class model for mosquito population secondarily classified into indoor-outdoor dynamics. We accentuate a novel design for the model in which periodicity of the affecting time-varying environmental condition is taken into account. Application of the optimal control with collocated measure as apposed to the widely-used prototypic smooth time-continuous measure is also considered. Using two approaches: least-square and maximum likelihood, we estimate several involving undetermined parameters. We analyze the model enforceability to biological point of view such as existence, uniqueness, positivity and boundedness of solution trajectory, also existence and stability of (non)trivial periodic solution(s) by means of the basic mosquito offspring number. Some numerical tests are brought along at the rest of the paper as a compact realistic visualization of the model.

Stochastic stability of sigma-point Unscented Predictive Filter.

PubMed

Cao, Lu; Tang, Yu; Chen, Xiaoqian; Zhao, Yong

2015-07-01

In this paper, the Unscented Predictive Filter (UPF) is derived based on unscented transformation for nonlinear estimation, which breaks the confine of conventional sigma-point filters by employing Kalman filter as subject investigated merely. In order to facilitate the new method, the algorithm flow of UPF is given firstly. Then, the theoretical analyses demonstrate that the estimate accuracy of the model error and system for the UPF is higher than that of the conventional PF. Moreover, the authors analyze the stochastic boundedness and the error behavior of Unscented Predictive Filter (UPF) for general nonlinear systems in a stochastic framework. In particular, the theoretical results present that the estimation error remains bounded and the covariance keeps stable if the system׳s initial estimation error, disturbing noise terms as well as the model error are small enough, which is the core part of the UPF theory. All of the results have been demonstrated by numerical simulations for a nonlinear example system. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A deterministic and stochastic model for the system dynamics of tumor-immune responses to chemotherapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiangdong; Li, Qingze; Pan, Jianxin

2018-06-01

Modern medical studies show that chemotherapy can help most cancer patients, especially for those diagnosed early, to stabilize their disease conditions from months to years, which means the population of tumor cells remained nearly unchanged in quite a long time after fighting against immune system and drugs. In order to better understand the dynamics of tumor-immune responses under chemotherapy, deterministic and stochastic differential equation models are constructed to characterize the dynamical change of tumor cells and immune cells in this paper. The basic dynamical properties, such as boundedness, existence and stability of equilibrium points, are investigated in the deterministic model. Extended stochastic models include stochastic differential equations (SDEs) model and continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) model, which accounts for the variability in cellular reproduction, growth and death, interspecific competitions, and immune response to chemotherapy. The CTMC model is harnessed to estimate the extinction probability of tumor cells. Numerical simulations are performed, which confirms the obtained theoretical results.

Quantization-Based Adaptive Actor-Critic Tracking Control With Tracking Error Constraints.

PubMed

Fan, Quan-Yong; Yang, Guang-Hong; Ye, Dan

2018-04-01

In this paper, the problem of adaptive actor-critic (AC) tracking control is investigated for a class of continuous-time nonlinear systems with unknown nonlinearities and quantized inputs. Different from the existing results based on reinforcement learning, the tracking error constraints are considered and new critic functions are constructed to improve the performance further. To ensure that the tracking errors keep within the predefined time-varying boundaries, a tracking error transformation technique is used to constitute an augmented error system. Specific critic functions, rather than the long-term cost function, are introduced to supervise the tracking performance and tune the weights of the AC neural networks (NNs). A novel adaptive controller with a special structure is designed to reduce the effect of the NN reconstruction errors, input quantization, and disturbances. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory, the boundedness of the closed-loop signals and the desired tracking performance can be guaranteed. Finally, simulations on two connected inverted pendulums are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Dynamics of a neutral delay equation for an insect population with long larval and short adult phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gourley, Stephen A.; Kuang, Yang

We present a global study on the stability of the equilibria in a nonlinear autonomous neutral delay differential population model formulated by Bocharov and Hadeler. This model may be suitable for describing the intriguing dynamics of an insect population with long larval and short adult phases such as the periodical cicada. We circumvent the usual difficulties associated with the study of the stability of a nonlinear neutral delay differential model by transforming it to an appropriate non-neutral nonautonomous delay differential equation with unbounded delay. In the case that no juveniles give birth, we establish the positivity and boundedness of solutions by ad hoc methods and global stability of the extinction and positive equilibria by the method of iteration. We also show that if the time adjusted instantaneous birth rate at the time of maturation is greater than 1, then the population will grow without bound, regardless of the population death process.

Robust fractional order sliding mode control of doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind turbines.

PubMed

Ebrahimkhani, Sadegh

2016-07-01

Wind power plants have nonlinear dynamics and contain many uncertainties such as unknown nonlinear disturbances and parameter uncertainties. Thus, it is a difficult task to design a robust reliable controller for this system. This paper proposes a novel robust fractional-order sliding mode (FOSM) controller for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind energy conversion system. In order to enhance the robustness of the control system, uncertainties and disturbances are estimated using a fractional order uncertainty estimator. In the proposed method a continuous control strategy is developed to achieve the chattering free fractional order sliding-mode control, and also no knowledge of the uncertainties and disturbances or their bound is assumed. The boundedness and convergence properties of the closed-loop signals are proven using Lyapunov׳s stability theory. Simulation results in the presence of various uncertainties were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control scheme. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coupled ion acoustic and drift waves in magnetized superthermal electron-positron-ion plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adnan, Muhammad; Mahmood, S.; Qamar, Anisa

2014-09-01

Linear and nonlinear coupled drift-ion acoustic waves are investigated in a nonuniform magnetoplasma having kappa distributed electrons and positrons. In the linear regime, the role of kappa distribution and positron content on the dispersion relation has been highlighted; it is found that strong superthermality (low value of κ) and addition of positrons lowers the phase velocity via decreasing the fundamental scalelengths of the plasmas. In the nonlinear regime, first, coherent nonlinear structure in the form of dipoles and monopoles are obtained and the boundary conditions (boundedness) in the context of superthermality and positron concentrations are discussed. Second, in case of scalar nonlinearity, a Korteweg-de Vries-type equation is obtained, which admit solitary wave solution. It is found that both compressive and rarefactive solitons are formed in the present model. The present work may be useful to understand the low frequency electrostatic modes in inhomogeneous electron positron ion plasmas, which exist in astrophysical plasma situations such as those found in the pulsar magnetosphere.

Online Recorded Data-Based Composite Neural Control of Strict-Feedback Systems With Application to Hypersonic Flight Dynamics.

PubMed

Xu, Bin; Yang, Daipeng; Shi, Zhongke; Pan, Yongping; Chen, Badong; Sun, Fuchun

2017-09-25

This paper investigates the online recorded data-based composite neural control of uncertain strict-feedback systems using the backstepping framework. In each step of the virtual control design, neural network (NN) is employed for uncertainty approximation. In previous works, most designs are directly toward system stability ignoring the fact how the NN is working as an approximator. In this paper, to enhance the learning ability, a novel prediction error signal is constructed to provide additional correction information for NN weight update using online recorded data. In this way, the neural approximation precision is highly improved, and the convergence speed can be faster. Furthermore, the sliding mode differentiator is employed to approximate the derivative of the virtual control signal, and thus, the complex analysis of the backstepping design can be avoided. The closed-loop stability is rigorously established, and the boundedness of the tracking error can be guaranteed. Through simulation of hypersonic flight dynamics, the proposed approach exhibits better tracking performance.

Comparison principle for impulsive functional differential equations with infinite delays and applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiaodi; Shen, Jianhua; Akca, Haydar; Rakkiyappan, R.

2018-04-01

We introduce the Razumikhin technique to comparison principle and establish some comparison results for impulsive functional differential equations (IFDEs) with infinite delays, where the infinite delays may be infinite time-varying delays or infinite distributed delays. The idea is, under the help of Razumikhin technique, to reduce the study of IFDEs with infinite delays to the study of scalar impulsive differential equations (IDEs) in which the solutions are easy to deal with. Based on the comparison principle, we study the qualitative properties of IFDEs with infinite delays , which include stability, asymptotic stability, exponential stability, practical stability, boundedness, etc. It should be mentioned that the developed results in this paper can be applied to IFDEs with not only infinite delays but also persistent impulsive perturbations. Moreover, even for the special cases of non-impulsive effects or/and finite delays, the criteria prove to be simpler and less conservative than some existing results. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed results.

Periodicity and global exponential stability of generalized Cohen-Grossberg neural networks with discontinuous activations and mixed delays.

PubMed

Wang, Dongshu; Huang, Lihong

2014-03-01

In this paper, we investigate the periodic dynamical behaviors for a class of general Cohen-Grossberg neural networks with discontinuous right-hand sides, time-varying and distributed delays. By means of retarded differential inclusions theory and the fixed point theorem of multi-valued maps, the existence of periodic solutions for the neural networks is obtained. After that, we derive some sufficient conditions for the global exponential stability and convergence of the neural networks, in terms of nonsmooth analysis theory with generalized Lyapunov approach. Without assuming the boundedness (or the growth condition) and monotonicity of the discontinuous neuron activation functions, our results will also be valid. Moreover, our results extend previous works not only on discrete time-varying and distributed delayed neural networks with continuous or even Lipschitz continuous activations, but also on discrete time-varying and distributed delayed neural networks with discontinuous activations. We give some numerical examples to show the applicability and effectiveness of our main results. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wave of chaos in a spatial eco-epidemiological system: Generating realistic patterns of patchiness in rabbit-lynx dynamics.

PubMed

Upadhyay, Ranjit Kumar; Roy, Parimita; Venkataraman, C; Madzvamuse, A

2016-11-01

In the present paper, we propose and analyze an eco-epidemiological model with diffusion to study the dynamics of rabbit populations which are consumed by lynx populations. Existence, boundedness, stability and bifurcation analyses of solutions for the proposed rabbit-lynx model are performed. Results show that in the presence of diffusion the model has the potential of exhibiting Turing instability. Numerical results (finite difference and finite element methods) reveal the existence of the wave of chaos and this appears to be a dominant mode of disease dispersal. We also show the mechanism of spatiotemporal pattern formation resulting from the Hopf bifurcation analysis, which can be a potential candidate for understanding the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of eco-epidemiological systems. Implications of the asymptotic transmission rate on disease eradication among rabbit population which in turn enhances the survival of Iberian lynx are discussed. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gaining Control over Radiolytic Synthesis of Uniform Sub-3-nanometer Palladium Nanoparticles: Use of Aromatic Liquids in the Electron Microscope.

PubMed

Abellan, Patricia; Parent, Lucas R; Al Hasan, Naila; Park, Chiwoo; Arslan, Ilke; Karim, Ayman M; Evans, James E; Browning, Nigel D

2016-02-16

Synthesizing nanomaterials of uniform shape and size is of critical importance to access and manipulate the novel structure-property relationships arising at the nanoscale, such as catalytic activity. In this work, we synthesize Pd nanoparticles with well-controlled size in the sub-3 nm range using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) in combination with an in situ liquid stage. We use an aromatic hydrocarbon (toluene) as a solvent that is very resistant to high-energy electron irradiation, which creates a net reducing environment without the need for additives to scavenge oxidizing radicals. The primary reducing species is molecular hydrogen, which is a widely used reductant in the synthesis of supported metal catalysts. We propose a mechanism of particle formation based on the effect of tri-n-octylphosphine (TOP) on size stabilization, relatively low production of radicals, and autocatalytic reduction of Pd(II) compounds. We combine in situ STEM results with insights from in situ small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) from alcohol-based synthesis, having similar reduction potential, in a customized microfluidic device as well as ex situ bulk experiments. This has allowed us to develop a fundamental growth model for the synthesis of size-stabilized Pd nanoparticles and demonstrate the utility of correlating different in situ and ex situ characterization techniques to understand, and ultimately control, metal nanostructure synthesis.

Photomask etch system and process for 10nm technology node and beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandrachood, Madhavi; Grimbergen, Michael; Yu, Keven; Leung, Toi; Tran, Jeffrey; Chen, Jeff; Bivens, Darin; Yalamanchili, Rao; Wistrom, Richard; Faure, Tom; Bartlau, Peter; Crawford, Shaun; Sakamoto, Yoshifumi

2015-10-01

While the industry is making progress to offer EUV lithography schemes to attain ultimate critical dimensions down to 20 nm half pitch, an interim optical lithography solution to address an immediate need for resolution is offered by various integration schemes using advanced PSM (Phase Shift Mask) materials including thin e-beam resist and hard mask. Using the 193nm wavelength to produce 10nm or 7nm patterns requires a range of optimization techniques, including immersion and multiple patterning, which place a heavy demand on photomask technologies. Mask schemes with hard mask certainly help attain better selectivity and hence better resolution but pose integration challenges and defectivity issues. This paper presents a new photomask etch solution for attenuated phase shift masks that offers high selectivity (Cr:Resist > 1.5:1), tighter control on the CD uniformity with a 3sigma value approaching 1 nm and controllable CD bias (5-20 nm) with excellent CD linearity performance (<5 nm) down to the finer resolution. The new system has successfully demonstrated capability to meet the 10 nm node photomask CD requirements without the use of more complicated hard mask phase shift blanks. Significant improvement in post wet clean recovery performance was demonstrated by the use of advanced chamber materials. Examples of CD uniformity, linearity, and minimum feature size, and etch bias performance on 10 nm test site and production mask designs will be shown.

Preparation of SiC based Aluminium metal matrix nano composites by high intensity ultrasonic cavitation process and evaluation of mechanical and tribological properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murthy, N. V.; Prasad Reddy, A.; Selvaraj, N.; Rao, C. S. P.

2016-09-01

Request augments on a worldwide scale for the new materials. The metal matrix nano composites can be used in numerous applications of helicopter structural parts, gas turbine exit guide vane's, space shuttle, and other structural applications. The key mailman to ameliorate performance of composite matrix in aluminium alloy metal reinforces nano particles in the matrix of alloy uniformly, which ameliorates composite properties without affecting limit of ductility. The ultrasonic assisted stir casting helped agitation was successfully used to fabricate Al 2219 metal matrix of alloy reinforced with (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2) wt.% of nano silicon carbide (SiC) particles of different sizes 50nm and 150nm. The micrographs of scanning electron microscopy of nano composite were investigated it reveals that the uniform dispersion of nano particles silicon carbide in aluminium alloy 2219 matrix and with the low porosity. How the specific wear rate was vary with increasing weight percentage of nano particles at constant load and speed as shown in results and discussions. And the mechanical properties showed that the ultimate tensile strength and hardness of metal matrix nano composite AA 2219 / nano SiC of 50nm and 150nm lean to augment with increase weight percentage of silicon carbide content in the matrix alloy.

Production of thick uniform-coating films containing rectorite on nanofibers through the use of an automated coating machine.

PubMed

Wu, Yang; Li, Xueyong; Shi, Xiaowen; Zhan, Yingfei; Tu, Hu; Du, Yumin; Deng, Hongbing; Jiang, Linbin

2017-01-01

When an efficient automated coating machine is used to process layer-by-layer (LBL) deposited nanofibrous mats, it causes an obvious planar effect on the surface of the mats, which can be eliminated through ultimate immersion. During this process, chitosan (CS) - rectorite (REC) intercalated composite films are built on the surface of cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibrous mats by a coating machine. Then, the immersion process is utilized to allow positively charged CS or CS-REC intercalated composites to uniformly assemble on the surface of negatively charged CA nanofibers. An investigation into the morphology of the resultant scaffolds confirms that the uniquely small pore size, high specific surface area and typically three-dimensional (3D) structure of nanofibrous mats remain present. The results of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicate that it is feasible to assemble nanofibrous mats using a coating machine. The intercalated structure of CS-REC is confirmed by the results of small-angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD) and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXRD). The results of the cell experiment and antibacterial test demonstrate that the addition of REC not only has little impact on the cytocompatibility of the mats but also enhances their ability to inhibit bacteria. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In vitro evaluation of three-dimensional single-walled carbon nanotube composites for bone tissue engineering.

PubMed

Gupta, Ashim; Main, Benjamin J; Taylor, Brittany L; Gupta, Manu; Whitworth, Craig A; Cady, Craig; Freeman, Joseph W; El-Amin, Saadiq F

2014-11-01

The purpose of this study was to develop three-dimensional single-walled carbon nanotube composites (SWCNT/PLAGA) using 10-mg single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) for bone regeneration and to determine the mechanical strength of the composites, and to evaluate the interaction of MC3T3-E1 cells via cell adhesion, growth, survival, proliferation, and gene expression. PLAGA (polylactic-co-glycolic acid) and SWCNT/PLAGA microspheres and composites were fabricated, characterized, and mechanical testing was performed. MC3T3-E1 cells were seeded and cell adhesion/morphology, growth/survival, proliferation, and gene expression analysis were performed to evaluate biocompatibility. Imaging studies demonstrated microspheres with uniform shape and smooth surfaces, and uniform incorporation of SWCNT into PLAGA matrix. The microspheres bonded in a random packing manner while maintaining spacing, thus resembling trabeculae of cancellous bone. Addition of SWCNT led to greater compressive modulus and ultimate compressive strength. Imaging studies revealed that MC3T3-E1 cells adhered, grew/survived, and exhibited normal, nonstressed morphology on the composites. SWCNT/PLAGA composites exhibited higher cell proliferation rate and gene expression compared with PLAGA. These results demonstrate the potential of SWCNT/PLAGA composites for musculoskeletal regeneration, for bone tissue engineering, and are promising for orthopedic applications as they possess the combined effect of increased mechanical strength, cell proliferation, and gene expression. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

High-Speed Multiplexed Spatiotemporally Resolved Measurements of Exhaust Gas Recirculation Dynamics in a Multi-Cylinder Engine Using Laser Absorption Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Yoo, Jihyung; Prikhodko, Vitaly; Parks, James E; Perfetto, Anthony; Geckler, Sam; Partridge, William P

2016-04-01

The need for more environmentally friendly and efficient energy conversion is of paramount importance in developing and designing next-generation internal combustion (IC) engines for transportation applications. One effective solution to reducing emissions of mono-nitrogen oxides (NOx) is exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), which has been widely implemented in modern vehicles. However, cylinder-to-cylinder and cycle-to-cycle variations in the charge-gas uniformity can be a major barrier to optimum EGR implementation on multi-cylinder engines, and can limit performance, stability, and efficiency. Precise knowledge and fine control over the EGR system is therefore crucial, particularly for optimizing advanced engine concepts such as reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI). An absorption-based laser diagnostic was developed to study spatiotemporal charge-gas distributions in an IC engine intake manifold in real-time. The laser was tuned to an absorption band of carbon dioxide (CO2), a standard exhaust-gas marker, near 2.7 µm. The sensor was capable of probing four separate measurement locations simultaneously, and independently analyzing EGR fraction at speeds of 5 kHz (1.2 crank-angle degree (CAD) at 1 k RPM) or faster with high accuracy. The probes were used to study spatiotemporal EGR non-uniformities in the intake manifold and ultimately promote the development of more efficient and higher performance engines. © The Author(s) 2016.

Structural Polymer-Based Carbon Nanotube Composite Fibers: Understanding the Processing–Structure–Performance Relationship

PubMed Central

Song, Kenan; Zhang, Yiying; Meng, Jiangsha; Green, Emily C.; Tajaddod, Navid; Li, Heng; Minus, Marilyn L.

2013-01-01

Among the many potential applications of carbon nanotubes (CNT), its usage to strengthen polymers has been paid considerable attention due to the exceptional stiffness, excellent strength, and the low density of CNT. This has provided numerous opportunities for the invention of new material systems for applications requiring high strength and high modulus. Precise control over processing factors, including preserving intact CNT structure, uniform dispersion of CNT within the polymer matrix, effective filler–matrix interfacial interactions, and alignment/orientation of polymer chains/CNT, contribute to the composite fibers’ superior properties. For this reason, fabrication methods play an important role in determining the composite fibers’ microstructure and ultimate mechanical behavior. The current state-of-the-art polymer/CNT high-performance composite fibers, especially in regards to processing–structure–performance, are reviewed in this contribution. Future needs for material by design approaches for processing these nano-composite systems are also discussed. PMID:28809290

New seismic study begins in Puerto Rico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tarr, A.C.

1974-01-01

A new seismological project is now underway in Puerto Rico to provide information needed for accurate assessment of the island's seismic hazard. The project should also help to increase understanding of the tectonics and geologic evolution of the Caribbean region. The Puerto Rico Seismic Program is being conducted by the Geological Survey with support provided by the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority, an agency responsible for generation and distribution of electric power throughout the Commonwealth. The Program will include the installation of a network of high quality seismograph stations to monitor seismic activity on and around Puerto Rico. These stations will be distributed across the island to record the seismicity as uniformly as possible. The detection and accurate location of small earthquakes, as well as moderate magnitude shocks, will aid in mapping active seismic zones and in compiling frequency of occurrence statistics which ultimately wil be useful in seismic risk-zoning of hte island. 

Designing electrical stimulated bioreactors for nerve tissue engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagita, Ignasius Dwi; Whulanza, Yudan; Dhelika, Radon; Nurhadi, Ibrahim

2018-02-01

Bioreactor provides a biomimetic ecosystem that is able to culture cells in a physically controlled system. In general, the controlled-parameters are temperature, pH, fluid flow, nutrition flow, etc. In this study, we develop a bioreactor that specifically targeted to culture neural stem cells. This bioreactor could overcome some limitations of conventional culture technology, such as petri dish, by providing specific range of observation area and a uniform treatment. Moreover, the microfluidic bioreactor, which is a small-controlled environment, is able to observe as small number of cells as possible. A perfusion flow is applied to mimic the physiological environment in human body. Additionally, this bioreactor also provides an electrical stimulation which is needed by neural stem cells. In conclusion, we found the correlation between the induced shear stress with geometric parameters of the bioreactor. Ultimately, this system shall be used to observe the interaction between stimulation and cell growth.

New prior sampling methods for nested sampling - Development and testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stokes, Barrie; Tuyl, Frank; Hudson, Irene

2017-06-01

Nested Sampling is a powerful algorithm for fitting models to data in the Bayesian setting, introduced by Skilling [1]. The nested sampling algorithm proceeds by carrying out a series of compressive steps, involving successively nested iso-likelihood boundaries, starting with the full prior distribution of the problem parameters. The "central problem" of nested sampling is to draw at each step a sample from the prior distribution whose likelihood is greater than the current likelihood threshold, i.e., a sample falling inside the current likelihood-restricted region. For both flat and informative priors this ultimately requires uniform sampling restricted to the likelihood-restricted region. We present two new methods of carrying out this sampling step, and illustrate their use with the lighthouse problem [2], a bivariate likelihood used by Gregory [3] and a trivariate Gaussian mixture likelihood. All the algorithm development and testing reported here has been done with Mathematica® [4].

Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy of Hidden Objects. Part II: Recovery of a Target Spectrum.

PubMed

Pomerantsev, Alexey L; Rodionova, Oxana Ye; Skvortsov, Alexej N

2017-08-01

In this study, we consider the reconstruction of a diffuse reflectance near-infrared spectrum of an object (target spectrum) in case the object is covered by an interfering absorbing and scattering layer. Recovery is performed using a new empirical method, which was developed in our previous study. We focus on a system, which consists of several layers of polyethylene (PE) film and underlayer objects with different spectral features. The spectral contribution of the interfering layer is modeled by a three-component two-parameter multivariate curve resolution (MCR) model, which was built and calibrated using spectrally flat objects. We show that this model is applicable to real objects with non-uniform spectra. Ultimately, the target spectrum can be reconstructed from a single spectrum of the covered target. With calculation methods, we are able to recover quite accurately the spectrum of a target even when the object is covered by 0.7 mm of PE.

Biomineralization Guided by Paper Templates.

PubMed

Camci-Unal, Gulden; Laromaine, Anna; Hong, Estrella; Derda, Ratmir; Whitesides, George M

2016-06-09

This work demonstrates the fabrication of partially mineralized scaffolds fabricated in 3D shapes using paper by folding, and by supporting deposition of calcium phosphate by osteoblasts cultured in these scaffolds. This process generates centimeter-scale free-standing structures composed of paper supporting regions of calcium phosphate deposited by osteoblasts. This work is the first demonstration that paper can be used as a scaffold to induce template-guided mineralization by osteoblasts. Because paper has a porous structure, it allows transport of O2 and nutrients across its entire thickness. Paper supports a uniform distribution of cells upon seeding in hydrogel matrices, and allows growth, remodelling, and proliferation of cells. Scaffolds made of paper make it possible to construct 3D tissue models easily by tuning material properties such as thickness, porosity, and density of chemical functional groups. Paper offers a new approach to study mechanisms of biomineralization, and perhaps ultimately new techniques to guide or accelerate the repair of bone.

Biomineralization Guided by Paper Templates

PubMed Central

Camci-Unal, Gulden; Laromaine, Anna; Hong, Estrella; Derda, Ratmir; Whitesides, George M.

2016-01-01

This work demonstrates the fabrication of partially mineralized scaffolds fabricated in 3D shapes using paper by folding, and by supporting deposition of calcium phosphate by osteoblasts cultured in these scaffolds. This process generates centimeter-scale free-standing structures composed of paper supporting regions of calcium phosphate deposited by osteoblasts. This work is the first demonstration that paper can be used as a scaffold to induce template-guided mineralization by osteoblasts. Because paper has a porous structure, it allows transport of O2 and nutrients across its entire thickness. Paper supports a uniform distribution of cells upon seeding in hydrogel matrices, and allows growth, remodelling, and proliferation of cells. Scaffolds made of paper make it possible to construct 3D tissue models easily by tuning material properties such as thickness, porosity, and density of chemical functional groups. Paper offers a new approach to study mechanisms of biomineralization, and perhaps ultimately new techniques to guide or accelerate the repair of bone. PMID:27277575

High Strength-High Ductility Combination Ultrafine-Grained Dual-Phase Steels Through Introduction of High Degree of Strain at Room Temperature Followed by Ultrarapid Heating During Continuous Annealing of a Nb-Microalloyed Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Yonggang; Di, Hongshuang; Hu, Meiyuan; Zhang, Jiecen; Misra, R. D. K.

2017-07-01

Ultrafine-grained dual-phase (UFG-DP) steel consisting of ferrite (1.2 μm) and martensite (1 μm) was uniquely processed via combination of hot rolling, cold rolling and continuous annealing of a low-carbon Nb-microalloyed steel. Room temperature tensile properties were evaluated and fracture mechanisms studied and compared to the coarse-grained (CG) counterpart. In contrast to the CG-DP steel, UFG-DP had 12.7% higher ultimate tensile strength and 10.7% greater uniform elongation. This is partly attributed to the increase in the initial strain-hardening rate, decrease in nanohardness ratio of martensite and ferrite. Moreover, a decreasing number of ferrite grains with {001} orientation increased the cleavage fracture stress and increased the crack initiation threshold stress with consequent improvement in ductility UFG-DP steel.

Classification of Chemicals Based On Structured Toxicity ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Thirty years and millions of dollars worth of pesticide registration toxicity studies, historically stored as hardcopy and scanned documents, have been digitized into highly standardized and structured toxicity data within the Toxicity Reference Database (ToxRefDB). Toxicity-based classifications of chemicals were performed as a model application of ToxRefDB. These endpoints will ultimately provide the anchoring toxicity information for the development of predictive models and biological signatures utilizing in vitro assay data. Utilizing query and structured data mining approaches, toxicity profiles were uniformly generated for greater than 300 chemicals. Based on observation rate, species concordance and regulatory relevance, individual and aggregated effects have been selected to classify the chemicals providing a set of predictable endpoints. ToxRefDB exhibits the utility of transforming unstructured toxicity data into structured data and, furthermore, into computable outputs, and serves as a model for applying such data to address modern toxicological problems.

Experimental studies on mechanical properties of T6 treated Al25Mg2Si2Cu4Fe alloy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sondur, D. G.; Mallapur, D. G.; Udupa, K. Rajendra

2018-04-01

Effect of T6 treatment on the mechanical properties of Al25Mg2Si2Cu4Fe alloy was evaluated by conducting mechanical tests on test pieces using universal testing machine. Increase in the mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength, hardness and % elongation was observed. Microstructure characterization revealed the modification in the size and shapes of the precipitates formed during the homogenization process. This modification increases the anisotropy of the microstructure and the stresses in the as cast structure. The increase in the hardness of T6 treated alloy is due to the partial recrystallization, fragmentation and redistribution of primary Mg2Si phase, precipitation of fine θ, Q phases. The high volume fractions of uniformly dispersed hard β-particles greatly increase the flow stress and provide an appreciable impediment to plastic deformation. Thus increasing the hardness of the alloy.

Variability of the solar shape (before space dedicated missions)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rozelot, J. P.; Damiani, C.; Lefebvre, S.

2009-12-01

Shrinking or expansion of the solar shape and irradiance variations are ultimately related to solar activity. We give here a review on existing ground-based or space solar radius measurements, extending the concept to shape changes. We show how helioseismology results allow us to look at the variations below the surface, where changes are not uniform, putting in evidence a new shallow layer, the leptocline, which is the seat of solar asphericities, radius variations with the 11-yr cycle and the cradle of complex physical processes: partial ionization of the light elements, opacities changes, superadiabaticity, strong gradient of rotation and pressure. Based on such physical grounds, we show why it is important to get accurate measurements from scheduled dedicated space missions: PICARD, SDO, DynaMICCS, ASTROMETRIA, SPHERIS. Such measurements will provide us a unique opportunity to study in detail the relationship between global solar properties and changes in the Sun's interior.

Safety and efficacy of use of demineralised bone matrix in orthopaedic and trauma surgery.

PubMed

Dinopoulos, Haralampos T H; Giannoudis, Peter V

2006-11-01

Demineralised bone matrix (DBM) acts as an osteoconductive, and possibly as an osteoinductive, material. It is widely used in orthopaedic, neurosurgical, plastic and dental areas. More than 500,000 bone grafting procedures with DBM are performed annually in the US. It does not offer structural support, but it is well suited for filling bone defects and cavities. The osteoinductive nature of DBM is presumably attributed to the presence of matrix-associated bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) and growth factors, which are made available to the host environment by the demineralisation process. Clinical results have not been uniformly favourable; however, a variable clinical response is attributed partly to nonuniform processing methods found among numerous bone banks and commercial suppliers. DBMs remain reasonably safe and effective products. The ultimate safe bone-graft substitute, one that is osteoconductive, osteoinductive, osteogenic and mechanically strong, remains elusive.

Role of scaffold network in controlling strain and functionalities of nanocomposite films

DOE PAGES

Chen, Aiping; Hu, Jia -Mian; Lu, Ping; ...

2016-06-10

One novel approach to manipulating functionalities in correlated complex oxides is strain. However, significant epitaxial strain can only be achieved in ultrathin layers. We show that, under direct lattice matching framework, large and uniform vertical strain up to 2% can be achieved to significantly modify the magnetic anisotropy, magnetism, and magnetotransport properties in heteroepitaxial nanoscaffold films, over a few hundred nanometers in thickness. Comprehensive designing principles of large vertical strain have been proposed. Phase-field simulations not only reveal the strain distribution but also suggest that the ultimate strain is related to the vertical interfacial area and interfacial dislocation density. Moreover,more » by changing the nanoscaffold density and dimension, the strain and the magnetic properties can be tuned. The established correlation among the vertical interface—strain—properties in nanoscaffold films can consequently be used to tune other functionalities in a broad range of complex oxide films far beyond critical thickness.« less

Distributed Adaptive Fuzzy Control for Nonlinear Multiagent Systems Via Sliding Mode Observers.

PubMed

Shen, Qikun; Shi, Peng; Shi, Yan

2016-12-01

In this paper, the problem of distributed adaptive fuzzy control is investigated for high-order uncertain nonlinear multiagent systems on directed graph with a fixed topology. It is assumed that only the outputs of each follower and its neighbors are available in the design of its distributed controllers. Equivalent output injection sliding mode observers are proposed for each follower to estimate the states of itself and its neighbors, and an observer-based distributed adaptive controller is designed for each follower to guarantee that it asymptotically synchronizes to a leader with tracking errors being semi-globally uniform ultimate bounded, in which fuzzy logic systems are utilized to approximate unknown functions. Based on algebraic graph theory and Lyapunov function approach, using Filippov-framework, the closed-loop system stability analysis is conducted. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and potential of the developed design techniques.

Synchronization Control of Neural Networks With State-Dependent Coefficient Matrices.

PubMed

Zhang, Junfeng; Zhao, Xudong; Huang, Jun

2016-11-01

This brief is concerned with synchronization control of a class of neural networks with state-dependent coefficient matrices. Being different from the existing drive-response neural networks in the literature, a novel model of drive-response neural networks is established. The concepts of uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) synchronization and convex hull Lyapunov function are introduced. Then, by using the convex hull Lyapunov function approach, the UUB synchronization design of the drive-response neural networks is proposed, and a delay-independent control law guaranteeing the bounded synchronization of the neural networks is constructed. All present conditions are formulated in terms of bilinear matrix inequalities. By comparison, it is shown that the neural networks obtained in this brief are less conservative than those ones in the literature, and the bounded synchronization is suitable for the novel drive-response neural networks. Finally, an illustrative example is given to verify the validity of the obtained results.

Capturing planar shapes by approximating their outlines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarfraz, M.; Riyazuddin, M.; Baig, M. H.

2006-05-01

A non-deterministic evolutionary approach for approximating the outlines of planar shapes has been developed. Non-uniform Rational B-splines (NURBS) have been utilized as an underlying approximation curve scheme. Simulated Annealing heuristic is used as an evolutionary methodology. In addition to independent studies of the optimization of weight and knot parameters of the NURBS, a separate scheme has also been developed for the optimization of weights and knots simultaneously. The optimized NURBS models have been fitted over the contour data of the planar shapes for the ultimate and automatic output. The output results are visually pleasing with respect to the threshold provided by the user. A web-based system has also been developed for the effective and worldwide utilization. The objective of this system is to provide the facility to visualize the output to the whole world through internet by providing the freedom to the user for various desired input parameters setting in the algorithm designed.

Multi-innovation auto-constructed least squares identification for 4 DOF ship manoeuvring modelling with full-scale trial data.

PubMed

Zhang, Guoqing; Zhang, Xianku; Pang, Hongshuai

2015-09-01

This research is concerned with the problem of 4 degrees of freedom (DOF) ship manoeuvring identification modelling with the full-scale trial data. To avoid the multi-innovation matrix inversion in the conventional multi-innovation least squares (MILS) algorithm, a new transformed multi-innovation least squares (TMILS) algorithm is first developed by virtue of the coupling identification concept. And much effort is made to guarantee the uniformly ultimate convergence. Furthermore, the auto-constructed TMILS scheme is derived for the ship manoeuvring motion identification by combination with a statistic index. Comparing with the existing results, the proposed scheme has the significant computational advantage and is able to estimate the model structure. The illustrative examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, especially including the identification application with full-scale trial data. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In-plane free vibration analysis of cable arch structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yueyu; Kang, Houjun

2008-05-01

Cable-stayed arch bridge is a new type of composite bridge, which utilizes the mechanical characters of cable and arch. Based on the supporting members of cable-stayed arch bridge and of erection of arch bridge using of the cantilever construction method with tiebacks, we propose a novel mechanical model of cable-arch structure. In this model, the equations governing vibrations of the cable-arch are derived according to Hamilton's principle for dynamic problems in elastic body under equilibrium state. Then, the program of solving the dynamic governing equations is ultimately established by the transfer matrix method for free vibration of uniform and variable cross-section, and the internal characteristics of the cable-arch are investigated. After analyzing step by step, the research results approve that the program is accurate; meanwhile, the mechanical model and method are both valuable and significant not only in theoretical research and calculation but also in design of engineering.

Adaptive output feedback NN control of a class of discrete-time MIMO nonlinear systems with unknown control directions.

PubMed

Li, Yanan; Yang, Chenguang; Ge, Shuzhi Sam; Lee, Tong Heng

2011-04-01

In this paper, adaptive neural network (NN) control is investigated for a class of block triangular multiinput-multioutput nonlinear discrete-time systems with each subsystem in pure-feedback form with unknown control directions. These systems are of couplings in every equation of each subsystem, and different subsystems may have different orders. To avoid the noncausal problem in the control design, the system is transformed into a predictor form by rigorous derivation. By exploring the properties of the block triangular form, implicit controls are developed for each subsystem such that the couplings of inputs and states among subsystems have been completely decoupled. The radial basis function NN is employed to approximate the unknown control. Each subsystem achieves a semiglobal uniformly ultimately bounded stability with the proposed control, and simulation results are presented to demonstrate its efficiency.

Reinforcement learning for adaptive optimal control of unknown continuous-time nonlinear systems with input constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Xiong; Liu, Derong; Wang, Ding

2014-03-01

In this paper, an adaptive reinforcement learning-based solution is developed for the infinite-horizon optimal control problem of constrained-input continuous-time nonlinear systems in the presence of nonlinearities with unknown structures. Two different types of neural networks (NNs) are employed to approximate the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation. That is, an recurrent NN is constructed to identify the unknown dynamical system, and two feedforward NNs are used as the actor and the critic to approximate the optimal control and the optimal cost, respectively. Based on this framework, the action NN and the critic NN are tuned simultaneously, without the requirement for the knowledge of system drift dynamics. Moreover, by using Lyapunov's direct method, the weights of the action NN and the critic NN are guaranteed to be uniformly ultimately bounded, while keeping the closed-loop system stable. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the present approach, simulation results are illustrated.

Software Certification and Software Certificate Management Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denney, Ewen; Fischer, Bernd

2005-01-01

Incremental certification and re-certification of code as it is developed and modified is a prerequisite for applying modem, evolutionary development processes, which are especially relevant for NASA. For example, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) report 121 concluded there is "the need for improved and uniform statistical sampling, audit, and certification processes". Also, re-certification time has been a limiting factor in making changes to Space Shuttle code close to launch time. This is likely to be an even bigger problem with the rapid turnaround required in developing NASA s replacement for the Space Shuttle, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). Hence, intelligent development processes are needed which place certification at the center of development. If certification tools provide useful information, such as estimated time and effort, they are more likely to be adopted. The ultimate impact of such a tool will be reduced effort and increased reliability.

Data, Metadata - Who Cares?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumann, Peter

2013-04-01

There is a traditional saying that metadata are understandable, semantic-rich, and searchable. Data, on the other hand, are big, with no accessible semantics, and just downloadable. Not only has this led to an imbalance of search support form a user perspective, but also underneath to a deep technology divide often using relational databases for metadata and bespoke archive solutions for data. Our vision is that this barrier will be overcome, and data and metadata become searchable likewise, leveraging the potential of semantic technologies in combination with scalability technologies. Ultimately, in this vision ad-hoc processing and filtering will not distinguish any longer, forming a uniformly accessible data universe. In the European EarthServer initiative, we work towards this vision by federating database-style raster query languages with metadata search and geo broker technology. We present our approach taken, how it can leverage OGC standards, the benefits envisaged, and first results.

Role of scaffold network in controlling strain and functionalities of nanocomposite films

PubMed Central

Chen, Aiping; Hu, Jia-Mian; Lu, Ping; Yang, Tiannan; Zhang, Wenrui; Li, Leigang; Ahmed, Towfiq; Enriquez, Erik; Weigand, Marcus; Su, Qing; Wang, Haiyan; Zhu, Jian-Xin; MacManus-Driscoll, Judith L.; Chen, Long-Qing; Yarotski, Dmitry; Jia, Quanxi

2016-01-01

Strain is a novel approach to manipulating functionalities in correlated complex oxides. However, significant epitaxial strain can only be achieved in ultrathin layers. We show that, under direct lattice matching framework, large and uniform vertical strain up to 2% can be achieved to significantly modify the magnetic anisotropy, magnetism, and magnetotransport properties in heteroepitaxial nanoscaffold films, over a few hundred nanometers in thickness. Comprehensive designing principles of large vertical strain have been proposed. Phase-field simulations not only reveal the strain distribution but also suggest that the ultimate strain is related to the vertical interfacial area and interfacial dislocation density. By changing the nanoscaffold density and dimension, the strain and the magnetic properties can be tuned. The established correlation among the vertical interface—strain—properties in nanoscaffold films can consequently be used to tune other functionalities in a broad range of complex oxide films far beyond critical thickness. PMID:27386578

Neuro-adaptive backstepping control of SISO non-affine systems with unknown gain sign.

PubMed

Ramezani, Zahra; Arefi, Mohammad Mehdi; Zargarzadeh, Hassan; Jahed-Motlagh, Mohammad Reza

2016-11-01

This paper presents two neuro-adaptive controllers for a class of uncertain single-input, single-output (SISO) nonlinear non-affine systems with unknown gain sign. The first approach is state feedback controller, so that a neuro-adaptive state-feedback controller is constructed based on the backstepping technique. The second approach is an observer-based controller and K-filters are designed to estimate the system states. The proposed method relaxes a priori knowledge of control gain sign and therefore by utilizing the Nussbaum-type functions this problem is addressed. In these methods, neural networks are employed to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions. The proposed adaptive control schemes guarantee that all the closed-loop signals are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB). Finally, the theoretical results are numerically verified through simulation examples. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Copyright © 2016 ISA. All rights reserved.

Adaptive Fuzzy Tracking Control for a Class of MIMO Nonlinear Systems in Nonstrict-Feedback Form.

PubMed

Chen, Bing; Lin, Chong; Liu, Xiaoping; Liu, Kefu

2015-12-01

This paper focuses on the problem of fuzzy adaptive control for a class of multiinput and multioutput (MIMO) nonlinear systems in nonstrict-feedback form, which contains the strict-feedback form as a special case. By the condition of variable partition, a new fuzzy adaptive backstepping is proposed for such a class of nonlinear MIMO systems. The suggested fuzzy adaptive controller guarantees that the proposed control scheme can guarantee that all the signals in the closed-loop system are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded and the tracking errors eventually converge to a small neighborhood around the origin. The main advantage of this paper is that a control approach is systematically derived for nonlinear systems with strong interconnected terms which are the functions of all states of the whole system. Simulation results further illustrate the effectiveness of the suggested approach.

Signal analysis of voltage noise in welding arcs. [gas tungsten arc welding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elis, E.; Eagar, T. W.

1982-01-01

Gas tungsten arc welds were made on low alloy steel plates to which intentional defects (discontinuities) were imposed. Disruption of shielding gas, welding over surface films, and tack welds produce changes in what is otherwise a relatively uniform voltage signal. The arc voltage was 15 volts + or - 2 volts with 300 mV ripple noise from the power supply. Changes in this steady noise voltage varied from 50 mV to less than one millivolt depending on the severity and the type of change experienced. In some instances the changes were easily detected by analysis of the signal in real time, while in other cases the signal had to transformed to the frequency domain in order to detect the changes. Discontinuities as small as 1.5 mm in length were detected. The ultimate sensitivity and reproducibility of the technique is still being investigated.

A cross-sectional investigation of the quality of selected medicines in Cambodia in 2010

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Access to good-quality medicines in many countries is largely hindered by the rampant circulation of spurious/falsely labeled/falsified/counterfeit (SFFC) and substandard medicines. In 2006, the Ministry of Health of Cambodia, in collaboration with Kanazawa University, Japan, initiated a project to combat SFFC medicines. Methods To assess the quality of medicines and prevalence of SFFC medicines among selected products, a cross-sectional survey was carried out in Cambodia. Cefixime, omeprazole, co-trimoxazole, clarithromycin, and sildenafil were selected as candidate medicines. These medicines were purchased from private community drug outlets in the capital, Phnom Penh, and Svay Rieng and Kandal provinces through a stratified random sampling scheme in July 2010. Results In total, 325 medicine samples were collected from 111 drug outlets. Non-licensed outlets were more commonly encountered in rural than in urban areas (p < 0.01). Of all the samples, 93.5% were registered and 80% were foreign products. Samples without registration numbers were found more frequently among foreign-manufactured products than in domestic ones (p < 0.01). According to pharmacopeial analytical results, 14.5%, 4.6%, and 24.6% of the samples were unacceptable in quantity, content uniformity, and dissolution test, respectively. All the ultimately unacceptable samples in the content uniformity tests were of foreign origin. Following authenticity investigations conducted with the respective manufacturers and medicine regulatory authorities, an unregistered product of cefixime collected from a pharmacy was confirmed as an SFFC medicine. However, the sample was acceptable in quantity, content uniformity, and dissolution test. Conclusions The results of this survey indicate that medicine counterfeiting is not limited to essential medicines in Cambodia: newer-generation medicines are also targeted. Concerted efforts by both domestic and foreign manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and regulatory authorities should help improve the quality of medicines. PMID:24593851

Magnetically actuated tissue engineered scaffold: insights into mechanism of physical stimulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sapir-Lekhovitser, Yulia; Rotenberg, Menahem Y.; Jopp, Juergen; Friedman, Gary; Polyak, Boris; Cohen, Smadar

2016-02-01

Providing the right stimulatory conditions resulting in efficient tissue promoting microenvironment in vitro and in vivo is one of the ultimate goals in tissue development for regenerative medicine. It has been shown that in addition to molecular signals (e.g. growth factors) physical cues are also required for generation of functional cell constructs. These cues are particularly relevant to engineering of biological tissues, within which mechanical stress activates mechano-sensitive receptors, initiating biochemical pathways which lead to the production of functionally mature tissue. Uniform magnetic fields coupled with magnetizable nanoparticles embedded within three dimensional (3D) scaffold structures remotely create transient physical forces that can be transferrable to cells present in close proximity to the nanoparticles. This study investigated the hypothesis that magnetically responsive alginate scaffold can undergo reversible shape deformation due to alignment of scaffold's walls in a uniform magnetic field. Using custom made Helmholtz coil setup adapted to an Atomic Force Microscope we monitored changes in matrix dimensions in situ as a function of applied magnetic field, concentration of magnetic particles within the scaffold wall structure and rigidity of the matrix. Our results show that magnetically responsive scaffolds exposed to an externally applied time-varying uniform magnetic field undergo a reversible shape deformation. This indicates on possibility of generating bending/stretching forces that may exert a mechanical effect on cells due to alternating pattern of scaffold wall alignment and relaxation. We suggest that the matrix structure deformation is produced by immobilized magnetic nanoparticles within the matrix walls resulting in a collective alignment of scaffold walls upon magnetization. The estimated mechanical force that can be imparted on cells grown on the scaffold wall at experimental conditions is in the order of 1 pN, which correlates well with reported threshold to induce mechanotransduction effects on cellular level. This work is our next step in understanding of how to accurately create proper stimulatory microenvironment for promotion of cellular organization to form mature tissue engineered constructs.

Topographical optimization of structures for use in musical instruments and other applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirkland, William Brandon

Mallet percussion instruments such as the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone have been produced and tuned since their inception by arduously grinding the keys to achieve harmonic ratios between their 1st, 2 nd, and 3rd transverse modes. In consideration of this, it would be preferable to have defined mathematical models such that the keys of these instruments can be produced quickly and reliably. Additionally, physical modeling of these keys or beams provides a useful application of non-uniform beam vibrations as studied by Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam theories. This thesis work presents a literature review of previous studies regarding mallet percussion instrument design and optimization of non-uniform keys. The progression of previous research from strictly mathematical approaches to finite element methods is shown, ultimately arriving at the most current optimization techniques used by other authors. However, previous research varies slightly in the relative degree of accuracy to which a non-uniform beam can be modeled. Typically, accuracies are shown in literature as 1% to 2% error. While this seems attractive, musical tolerances require 0.25% error and beams are otherwise unsuitable. This research seeks to build on and add to the previous field research by optimizing beam topology and machining keys within tolerances that no further tuning is required. The optimization methods relied on finite element analysis and used harmonic modal frequencies as constraints rather than arguments of an error function to be optimized. Instead, the beam mass was minimized while the modal frequency constraints were required to be satisfied within 0.25% tolerance. The final optimized and machined keys of an A4 vibraphone were shown to be accurate within the required musical tolerances, with strong resonance at the designed frequencies. The findings solidify a systematic method for designing musical structures for accuracy and repeatability upon manufacture.

Magnetically actuated tissue engineered scaffold: insights into mechanism of physical stimulation

PubMed Central

Sapir-Lekhovitser, Yulia; Rotenberg, Menahem Y.; Jopp, Juergen; Friedman, Gary; Polyak, Boris; Cohen, Smadar

2016-01-01

Providing the right stimulatory conditions resulting in efficient tissue promoting microenvironment in vitro and in vivo is one of the ultimate goals in tissue development for regenerative medicine. It has been shown that in addition to molecular signals (e.g. growth factors) physical cues are also required for generation of functional cell constructs. These cues are particularly relevant to engineering of biological tissues, within which mechanical stress activates mechano-sensitive receptors, initiating biochemical pathways which lead to the production of functionally mature tissue. Uniform magnetic fields coupled with magnetizable nanoparticles embedded within three dimensional (3D) scaffold structures remotely create transient physical forces that can be transferrable to cells present in close proximity to the nanoparticles. This study investigated the hypothesis that magnetically responsive alginate scaffold can undergo reversible shape deformation due to alignment of scaffold’s walls in a uniform magnetic field. Using custom made Helmholtz coil setup adapted to an Atomic Force Microscope we monitored changes in matrix dimensions in situ as a function of applied magnetic field, concentration of magnetic particles within the scaffold wall structure and rigidity of the matrix. Our results show that magnetically responsive scaffolds exposed to an externally applied time-varying uniform magnetic field undergo a reversible shape deformation. This indicates on possibility of generating bending/stretching forces that may exert a mechanical effect on cells due to alternating pattern of scaffold wall alignment and relaxation. We suggest that the matrix structure deformation is produced by immobilized magnetic nanoparticles within the matrix walls resulting in a collective alignment of scaffold walls upon magnetization. The estimated mechanical force that can be imparted on cells grown on the scaffold wall at experimental conditions is in the order of 1 pN, which correlates well with reported threshold to induce mechanotransduction effects on cellular level. This work is our next step in understanding of how to accurately create proper stimulatory microenvironment for promotion of cellular organization to form mature tissue engineered constructs. PMID:26790538

Compositional disorder and its effect on the thermoelectric performance of Zn₃P₂ nanowire-copper nanoparticle composites.

PubMed

Brockway, Lance; Vasiraju, Venkata; Vaddiraju, Sreeram

2014-03-28

Recent studies indicated that nanowire format of materials is ideal for enhancing the thermoelectric performance of materials. Most of these studies were performed using individual nanowires as the test elements. It is not currently clear whether bulk assemblies of nanowires replicate this enhanced thermoelectric performance of individual nanowires. Therefore, it is imperative to understand whether enhanced thermoelectric performance exhibited by individual nanowires can be extended to bulk assemblies of nanowires. It is also imperative to know whether the addition of metal nanoparticle to semiconductor nanowires can be employed for enhancing their thermoelectric performance further. Specifically, it is important to understand the effect of microstructure and composition on the thermoelectric performance on bulk compound semiconductor nanowire-metal nanoparticle composites. In this study, bulk composites composed of mixtures of copper nanoparticles with either unfunctionalized or 1,4-benzenedithiol (BDT) functionalized Zn₃P₂ nanowires were fabricated and analyzed for their thermoelectric performance. The results indicated that use of BDT functionalized nanowires for the fabrication of composites leads to interface-engineered composites that have uniform composition all across their cross-section. The interface engineering allows for increasing their Seebeck coefficients and electrical conductivities, relative to the Zn₃P₂ nanowire pellets. In contrast, the use of unfunctionalized Zn₃P₂ nanowires for the fabrication of composite leads to the formation of composites that are non-uniform in composition across their cross-section. Ultimately, the composites were found to have Zn₃P₂ nanowires interspersed with metal alloy nanoparticles. Such non-uniform composites exhibited very high electrical conductivities, but slightly lower Seebeck coefficients, relative to Zn₃P₂ nanowire pellets. These composites were found to show a very high zT of 0.23 at 770 K, orders of magnitude higher than either interface-engineered composites or Zn₃P₂ nanowire pellets. The results indicate that microstructural composition of semiconductor nanowire-metal nanoparticle composites plays a major role in determining their thermoelectric performance, and such composites exhibit enhanced thermoelectric performance.

Not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good: steps toward science-ready ALMA images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kepley, Amanda A.; Donovan Meyer, Jennifer; Brogan, Crystal; Moullet, Arielle; Hibbard, John; Indebetouw, Remy; Mason, Brian

2016-07-01

Historically, radio observatories have placed the onus of calibrating and imaging data on the observer, thus restricting their user base to those already initiated into the mysteries of radio data or those willing to develop these skills. To expand its user base, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has a high- level directive to calibrate users' data and, ultimately, to deliver scientifically usable images or cubes to principle investigators (PIs). Although an ALMA calibration pipeline is in place, all delivered images continue to be produced for the PI by hand. In this talk, I will describe on-going efforts at the Northern American ALMA Science Center to produce more uniform imaging products that more closely meet the PI science goals and provide better archival value. As a first step, the NAASC imaging group produced a simple imaging template designed to help scientific staff produce uniform imaging products. This script allowed the NAASC to maximize the productivity of data analysts with relatively little guidance by the scientific staff by providing a step-by-step guide to best practices for ALMA imaging. Finally, I will describe the role of the manually produced images in verifying the imaging pipeline and the on-going development of said pipeline. The development of the imaging template, while technically simple, shows how small steps toward unifying processes and sharing knowledge can lead to large gains for science data products.

Streamline three-dimensional thermal model of a lithium titanate pouch cell battery in extreme temperature conditions with module simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaguemont, Joris; Omar, Noshin; Martel, François; Van den Bossche, Peter; Van Mierlo, Joeri

2017-11-01

In this paper, the development of a three-dimensional (3D) lithium titanium oxide (LTO) pouch cell is presented to first better comprehend its thermal behavior within electrified vehicle applications, but also to propose a strong modeling base for future thermal management system. Current 3D-thermal models are based on electrochemical reactions which are in need for elaborated meshing effort and long computational time. There lacks a fast electro-thermal model which can capture voltage, current and thermal distribution variation during the whole process. The proposed thermal model is a reduce-effort temperature simulation approach involving a 0D-electrical model accommodating a 3D-thermal model to exclude electrochemical processes. The thermal model is based on heat-transfer theory and its temperature distribution prediction incorporates internal conduction and heat generation effect as well as convection. In addition, experimental tests are conducted to validate the model. Results show that both the heat dissipation rate and surface temperature uniformity data are in agreement with simulation results, which satisfies the application requirements for electrified vehicles. Additionally, a LTO battery pack sizing and modeling is also designed, applied and displays a non-uniformity of the cells under driving operation. Ultimately, the model will serve as a basis for the future development of a thermal strategy for LTO cells that operate in a large temperature range, which is a strong contribution to the existing body of scientific literature.

Heat Pipe Solar Receiver for Oxygen Production of Lunar Regolith

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartenstine, John R.; Anderson, William G.; Walker, Kara L.; Ellis, Michael C.

2009-03-01

A heat pipe solar receiver operating in the 1050° C range is proposed for use in the hydrogen reduction process for the extraction of oxygen from the lunar soil. The heat pipe solar receiver is designed to accept, isothermalize and transfer solar thermal energy to reactors for oxygen production. This increases the available area for heat transfer, and increases throughput and efficiency. The heat pipe uses sodium as the working fluid, and Haynes 230 as the heat pipe envelope material. Initial design requirements have been established for the heat pipe solar receiver design based on information from the NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) program. Multiple heat pipe solar receiver designs were evaluated based on thermal performance, temperature uniformity, and integration with the solar concentrator and the regolith reactor(s). Two designs were selected based on these criteria: an annular heat pipe contained within the regolith reactor and an annular heat pipe with a remote location for the reactor. Additional design concepts have been developed that would use a single concentrator with a single solar receiver to supply and regulate power to multiple reactors. These designs use variable conductance or pressure controlled heat pipes for passive power distribution management between reactors. Following the design study, a demonstration heat pipe solar receiver was fabricated and tested. Test results demonstrated near uniform temperature on the outer surface of the pipe, which will ultimately be in contact with the regolith reactor.

Goals of clinical ethics support: perceptions of Dutch healthcare institutions.

PubMed

Dauwerse, L; Abma, T A; Molewijk, B; Widdershoven, G

2013-12-01

In previous literature, ethicists mention several goals of Clinical Ethics Support (CES). It is unknown what key persons in healthcare institutions see as main--and sub-goals of CES. This article presents the goals of CES as perceived by board members and members of ethics support staff. This is part of a Dutch national research using a mixed methods design with questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed and combined in an iterative process. Four main clusters of goals were found: 1) encouraging an ethical climate, 2) fostering an accountable and transparent organization, 3) developing professionalism and a final goal, overarching the previous three, 4) good care. Most important sub-goals of CES were: attention for ethical issues, raising awareness of ethical issues, fostering ethical reflection and supporting employees. The article ends with a discussion on the desirability to further operationalize the general goal of good care, the context-boundedness of our findings and the need to relate goals of CES to the features of organizational cultures to further improve the integration of CES in healthcare institutions.

The dynamics of a harvested predator-prey system with Holling type IV functional response.

PubMed

Liu, Xinxin; Huang, Qingdao

2018-05-31

The paper aims to investigate the dynamical behavior of a predator-prey system with Holling type IV functional response in which both the species are subject to capturing. We mainly consider how the harvesting affects equilibria, stability, limit cycles and bifurcations in this system. We adopt the method of qualitative and quantitative analysis, which is based on the dynamical theory, bifurcation theory and numerical simulation. The boundedness of solutions, the existence and stability of equilibrium points of the system are further studied. Based on the Sotomayor's theorem, the existence of transcritical bifurcation and saddle-node bifurcation are derived. We use the normal form theorem to analyze the Hopf bifurcation. Simulation results show that the first Lyapunov coefficient is negative and a stable limit cycle may bifurcate. Numerical simulations are performed to make analytical studies more complete. This work illustrates that using the harvesting effort as control parameter can change the behaviors of the system, which may be useful for the biological management. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrated multiple-model adaptive fault identification and reconfigurable fault-tolerant control for Lead-Wing close formation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chun; Jiang, Bin; Zhang, Ke

2018-03-01

This paper investigates the attitude and position tracking control problem for Lead-Wing close formation systems in the presence of loss of effectiveness and lock-in-place or hardover failure. In close formation flight, Wing unmanned aerial vehicle movements are influenced by vortex effects of the neighbouring Lead unmanned aerial vehicle. This situation allows modelling of aerodynamic coupling vortex-effects and linearisation based on optimal close formation geometry. Linearised Lead-Wing close formation model is transformed into nominal robust H-infinity models with respect to Mach hold, Heading hold, and Altitude hold autopilots; static feedback H-infinity controller is designed to guarantee effective tracking of attitude and position while manoeuvring Lead unmanned aerial vehicle. Based on H-infinity control design, an integrated multiple-model adaptive fault identification and reconfigurable fault-tolerant control scheme is developed to guarantee asymptotic stability of close-loop systems, error signal boundedness, and attitude and position tracking properties. Simulation results for Lead-Wing close formation systems validate the efficiency of the proposed integrated multiple-model adaptive control algorithm.

A quantum extended Kalman filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emzir, Muhammad F.; Woolley, Matthew J.; Petersen, Ian R.

2017-06-01

In quantum physics, a stochastic master equation (SME) estimates the state (density operator) of a quantum system in the Schrödinger picture based on a record of measurements made on the system. In the Heisenberg picture, the SME is a quantum filter. For a linear quantum system subject to linear measurements and Gaussian noise, the dynamics may be described by quantum stochastic differential equations (QSDEs), also known as quantum Langevin equations, and the quantum filter reduces to a so-called quantum Kalman filter. In this article, we introduce a quantum extended Kalman filter (quantum EKF), which applies a commutative approximation and a time-varying linearization to systems of nonlinear QSDEs. We will show that there are conditions under which a filter similar to a classical EKF can be implemented for quantum systems. The boundedness of estimation errors and the filtering problem with ‘state-dependent’ covariances for process and measurement noises are also discussed. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the quantum EKF by applying it to systems that involve multiple modes, nonlinear Hamiltonians, and simultaneous jump-diffusive measurements.

Observer-based robust finite time H∞ sliding mode control for Markovian switching systems with mode-dependent time-varying delay and incomplete transition rate.

PubMed

Gao, Lijun; Jiang, Xiaoxiao; Wang, Dandan

2016-03-01

This paper investigates the problem of robust finite time H∞ sliding mode control for a class of Markovian switching systems. The system is subjected to the mode-dependent time-varying delay, partly unknown transition rate and unmeasurable state. The main difficulty is that, a sliding mode surface cannot be designed based on the unknown transition rate and unmeasurable state directly. To overcome this obstacle, the set of modes is firstly divided into two subsets standing for known transition rate subset and unknown one, based on which a state observer is established. A component robust finite-time sliding mode controller is also designed to cope with the effect of partially unknown transition rate. It is illustrated that the reachability, finite-time stability, finite-time boundedness, finite-time H∞ state feedback stabilization of sliding mode dynamics can be ensured despite the unknown transition rate. Finally, the simulation results verify the effectiveness of robust finite time control problem. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Luo, Shaohua; School of Automation, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044; Sun, Quanping

This paper addresses chaos control of the micro-electro- mechanical resonator by using adaptive dynamic surface technology with extended state observer. To reveal the mechanism of the micro- electro-mechanical resonator, the phase diagrams and corresponding time histories are given to research the nonlinear dynamics and chaotic behavior, and Homoclinic and heteroclinic chaos which relate closely with the appearance of chaos are presented based on the potential function. To eliminate the effect of chaos, an adaptive dynamic surface control scheme with extended state observer is designed to convert random motion into regular motion without precise system model parameters and measured variables. Puttingmore » tracking differentiator into chaos controller solves the ‘explosion of complexity’ of backstepping and poor precision of the first-order filters. Meanwhile, to obtain high performance, a neural network with adaptive law is employed to approximate unknown nonlinear function in the process of controller design. The boundedness of all the signals of the closed-loop system is proved in theoretical analysis. Finally, numerical simulations are executed and extensive results illustrate effectiveness and robustness of the proposed scheme.« less

Scalar conservation and boundedness in simulations of compressible flow

DOE PAGES

Subbareddy, Pramod K.; Kartha, Anand; Candler, Graham V.

2017-08-07

With the proper combination of high-order, low-dissipation numerical methods, physics-based subgrid-scale models, and boundary conditions it is becoming possible to simulate many combustion flows at relevant conditions. However, non-premixed flows are a particular challenge because the thickness of the fuel/oxidizer interface scales inversely with Reynolds number. Sharp interfaces can also be present in the initial or boundary conditions. When higher-order numerical methods are used, there are often aphysical undershoots and overshoots in the scalar variables (e.g.passive scalars, species mass fractions or progress variable). These numerical issues are especially prominent when low-dissipation methods are used, since sharp jumps in flow variablesmore » are not always coincident with regions of strong variation in the scalar fields: consequently, special detection mechanisms and dissipative fluxes are needed. Most numerical methods diffuse the interface, resulting in artificial mixing and spurious reactions. In this paper, we propose a numerical method that mitigates this issue. As a result, we present methods for passive and active scalars, and demonstrate their effectiveness with several examples.« less

Revealing Large-Scale Asymetries in the Winds of Hot, Luminous Stars Using Spectroscopy and Polarimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

St-Louis, Nicole

2015-08-01

The winds of hot, luminous stars are known to show small but also large scale density structures. Ultimately, these departures from spherical symmetry are important for the understanding of the loss of angular momentum from the star and are crucial in determining its rotation rate. There are many observational signatures of these departures from a uniform and spherically symmetric outflow. This poster will present results from spectroscopic and polarimetric observations of Wolf-Rayet stars, the descendants of massive O stars, that reveal large-scale asymmetries in their winds and discuss what can be learned about the structure of these winds and about the the physical mechanism responsible for generating them. Very little is known about the rotation rates of these small, He-burning stars which are the direct progenitors of at least some supernova explosions. If enough angular momentum is retained in the core, some may also very well be the progenitors of long gamma-ray bursts.

Robust adaptive backstepping neural networks control for spacecraft rendezvous and docking with input saturation.

PubMed

Xia, Kewei; Huo, Wei

2016-05-01

This paper presents a robust adaptive neural networks control strategy for spacecraft rendezvous and docking with the coupled position and attitude dynamics under input saturation. Backstepping technique is applied to design a relative attitude controller and a relative position controller, respectively. The dynamics uncertainties are approximated by radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs). A novel switching controller consists of an adaptive neural networks controller dominating in its active region combined with an extra robust controller to avoid invalidation of the RBFNNs destroying stability of the system outside the neural active region. An auxiliary signal is introduced to compensate the input saturation with anti-windup technique, and a command filter is employed to approximate derivative of the virtual control in the backstepping procedure. Globally uniformly ultimately bounded of the relative states is proved via Lyapunov theory. Simulation example demonstrates effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Removal of Long-Lived Radon Daughters by Electropolishing Thin Layers of Stainless Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, James; Schnee, Richard; Bunker, Raymond; Bowles, Michael; Cushman, Priscilla; Epland, Matthew; Pepin, Mark; Guiseppe, Vince

2012-10-01

Long-lived alpha and beta emitters in the Radon decay chain on detector surfaces may be limiting background in many experiments attempting to detect dark matter or neutrinoless double beta decay. To screen detector surfaces for this radioactive contamination, a low-radiation, multi-wire proportional chamber (the BetaCage) is under construction. Removal of Pb-210 implanted on its 25-micron stainless steel wires without causing significant variation in the diameter of the wires is critical to the BetaCage's ultimate sensitivity. An apparatus to perform electropolishing trials to remove roughly a micron of material has been assembled. These trials have shown promising results. Stainless steel square samples implanted with Pb-210 have shown counts with a reduction factor greater than 10 after electropolishing according to gamma assay. Furthermore, alpha counting has produced similar results, with a reduction factor greater than 100. Lastly, the diameters of wires after electropolishing have remained sufficiently uniform, with reduction in thickness consistent with expectations.

Substance use during pregnancy: time for policy to catch up with research

PubMed Central

Lester, Barry M; Andreozzi, Lynne; Appiah, Lindsey

2004-01-01

The phenomenon of substance abuse during pregnancy has fostered much controversy, specifically regarding treatment vs. punishment. Should the pregnant mother who engages in substance abuse be viewed as a criminal or as someone suffering from an illness requiring appropriate treatment? As it happens, there is a noticeably wide range of responses to this matter in the various states of the United States, ranging from a strictly criminal perspective to one that does emphasize the importance of the mother's treatment. This diversity of dramatically different responses illustrates the failure to establish a uniform policy for the management of this phenomenon. Just as there is lack of consensus among those who favor punishment, the same lack of consensus characterizes those states espousing treatment. Several general policy recommendations are offered here addressing the critical issues. It is hoped that by focusing on these fundamental issues and ultimately detailing statistics, policymakers throughout the United States will consider the course of action that views both pregnant mother and fetus/child as humanely as possible. PMID:15169566

The algorithm of motion blur image restoration based on PSF half-blind estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Da-Ke; Lin, Zhe

2011-08-01

A novel algorithm of motion blur image restoration based on PSF half-blind estimation with Hough transform was introduced on the basis of full analysis of the principle of TDICCD camera, with the problem that vertical uniform linear motion estimation used by IBD algorithm as the original value of PSF led to image restoration distortion. Firstly, the mathematical model of image degradation was established with the transcendental information of multi-frame images, and then two parameters (movement blur length and angle) that have crucial influence on PSF estimation was set accordingly. Finally, the ultimate restored image can be acquired through multiple iterative of the initial value of PSF estimation in Fourier domain, which the initial value was gained by the above method. Experimental results show that the proposal algorithm can not only effectively solve the image distortion problem caused by relative motion between TDICCD camera and movement objects, but also the details characteristics of original image are clearly restored.

The synchronous improvement of strength and plasticity (SISP) in new Ni-Co based disc superalloys by controling stacking fault energy.

PubMed

Xu, H; Zhang, Z J; Zhang, P; Cui, C Y; Jin, T; Zhang, Z F

2017-08-14

It is a great challenge to improve the strength of disc superalloys without great loss of plasticity together since the microstructures benefiting the strength always do not avail the plasticity. Interestingly, this study shows that the trade-off relationship between strength and plasticity can be broken through decreasing stacking fault energy (SFE) in newly developed Ni-Co based disc superalloys. Axial tensile tests in the temperature range of 25 to 725 °C were carried out in these alloys with Co content ranging from 5% to 23% (wt.%). It is found that the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and uniform elongation (UE) are improved synchronously when microtwinning is activated by decreasing the SFE at 650 and 725 °C. In contrast, only UTS is improved when stacking fault (SF) dominates the plastic deformation at 25 and 400 °C. These results may be helpful for designing advanced disc superalloys with relatively excellent strength and plasticity simultaneously.

Toward a better guard of coastal water safety-Microbial distribution in coastal water and their facile detection.

PubMed

Xie, Yunxuan; Qiu, Ning; Wang, Guangyi

2017-05-15

Prosperous development in marine-based tourism has raised increasing concerns over the sanitary quality of coastal waters with potential microbial contamination. The World Health Organization has set stringent standards over a list of pathogenic microorganisms posing potential threats to people with frequent coastal water exposure and has asked for efficient detection procedures for pathogen facile identification. Inspection of survey events regarding the occurrence of marine pathogens in recreational beaches in recent years has reinforced the need for the development of a rapid identification procedure. In this review, we examine the possibility of recruiting uniform molecular assays to identify different marine pathogens and the feasibility of appropriate biomarkers, including enterochelin biosynthetic genes, for general toxicity assays. The focus is not only on bacterial pathogens but also on other groups of infectious pathogens. The ultimate goal is the development of a handy method to more efficiently and rapidly detect marine pathogens. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computational representation of the aponeuroses as NURBS surfaces in 3D musculoskeletal models.

PubMed

Wu, Florence T H; Ng-Thow-Hing, Victor; Singh, Karan; Agur, Anne M; McKee, Nancy H

2007-11-01

Computational musculoskeletal (MSK) models - 3D graphics-based models that accurately simulate the anatomical architecture and/or the biomechanical behaviour of organ systems consisting of skeletal muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and bones - are valued biomedical tools, with applications ranging from pathological diagnosis to surgical planning. However, current MSK models are often limited by their oversimplifications in anatomical geometries, sometimes lacking discrete representations of connective tissue components entirely, which ultimately affect their accuracy in biomechanical simulation. In particular, the aponeuroses - the flattened fibrous connective sheets connecting muscle fibres to tendons - have never been geometrically modeled. The initiative was thus to extend Anatomy3D - a previously developed software bundle for reconstructing muscle fibre architecture - to incorporate aponeurosis-modeling capacity. Two different algorithms for aponeurosis reconstruction were written in the MEL scripting language of the animation software Maya 6.0, using its NURBS (non-uniform rational B-splines) modeling functionality for aponeurosis surface representation. Both algorithms were validated qualitatively against anatomical and functional criteria.

Constitutive law for thermally-activated plasticity of recrystallized tungsten

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zinovev, Aleksandr; Terentyev, Dmitry; Dubinko, Andrii; Delannay, Laurent

2017-12-01

A physically-based constitutive law relevant for ITER-specification tungsten grade in as-recrystallized state is proposed. The material demonstrates stages III and IV of the plastic deformation, in which hardening rate does not drop to zero with the increase of applied stress. Despite the classical Kocks-Mecking model, valid at stage III, the strain hardening asymptotically decreases resembling a hyperbolic function. The material parameters are fitted by relying on tensile test data and by requiring that the strain and stress at the onset of diffuse necking (uniform elongation and ultimate tensile strength correspondingly) as well as the yield stress be reproduced. The model is then validated in the temperature range 300-600 °C with the help of finite element analysis of tensile tests which confirms the reproducibility of the experimental engineering curves up to the onset of diffuse necking, beyond which the development of ductile damage accelerates the material failure. This temperature range represents the low temperature application window for tungsten as divertor material in fusion reactor ITER.

New-Generation Aluminum Composite with Bottom Ash Industrial Waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, A. K.; Sinha, O. P.

2018-02-01

Industrial waste bottom ash (BA) from a pulverized coal combustion boiler containing hard wear-resistant particles was utilized in this study to form an aluminum composite through a liquid metallurgy route. Composites comprising 5 wt.% and 10 wt.% bottom ash were characterized for their physiochemical, microstructural, mechanical, as well as tribological properties, along with pure aluminum. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) microstructure revealed uniform distribution of BA particles throughout the matrix of the composite, whereas x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed presence of aluminosilicate phase. Addition of 10 wt.% BA improved the Brinell hardness number (BHN) from 13 to 19 and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) from 71 MPa to 87 MPa, whereas ductility was adversely reduced after 5% BA addition. Incorporation of BA particles resulted in reduced dry sliding wear rates examined up to 80 N load compared with aluminum. Hence, such composites having lower cost could be applied as significantly hard, wear-resistant materials in applications in the automotive industry.

Reducing graphene device variability with yttrium sacrificial layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ning C.; Carrion, Enrique A.; Tung, Maryann C.; Pop, Eric

2017-05-01

Graphene technology has made great strides since the material was isolated more than a decade ago. However, despite improvements in growth quality and numerous "hero" devices, challenges of uniformity remain, restricting the large-scale development of graphene-based technologies. Here, we investigate and reduce the variability of graphene transistors by studying the effects of contact metals (with and without a Ti layer), resist, and yttrium (Y) sacrificial layers during the fabrication of hundreds of devices. We find that with optical photolithography, residual resist and process contamination are unavoidable, ultimately limiting the device performance and yield. However, using Y sacrificial layers to isolate the graphene from processing conditions improves the yield (from 73% to 97%), the average device performance (three-fold increase of mobility and 58% lower contact resistance), and the device-to-device variability (standard deviation of Dirac voltage reduced by 20%). In contrast to other sacrificial layer techniques, the removal of the Y sacrificial layer with dilute HCl does not harm surrounding materials, simplifying large-scale graphene fabrication.

Distributed ESO based cooperative tracking control for high-order nonlinear multiagent systems with lumped disturbance and application in multi flight simulators systems.

PubMed

Cong, Zhang

2018-03-01

Based on extended state observer, a novel and practical design method is developed to solve the distributed cooperative tracking problem of higher-order nonlinear multiagent systems with lumped disturbance in a fixed communication topology directed graph. The proposed method is designed to guarantee all the follower nodes ultimately and uniformly converge to the leader node with bounded residual errors. The leader node, modeled as a higher-order non-autonomous nonlinear system, acts as a command generator giving commands only to a small portion of the networked follower nodes. Extended state observer is used to estimate the local states and lumped disturbance of each follower node. Moreover, each distributed controller can work independently only requiring the relative states and/or the estimated relative states information between itself and its neighbors. Finally an engineering application of multi flight simulators systems is demonstrated to test and verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigations on Mechanical Behaviour of Micro Graphite Particulates Reinforced Al-7Si Alloy Composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagaraj, N.; Mahendra, K. V.; Nagaral, Madeva

2018-02-01

Micro particulates reinforced metal matrix composites are finding wide range of applications in automotive and sports equipment manufacturing industries. In the present study, an attempt has been made to develop Al-7Si-micro graphite particulates reinforced composites by using liquid melt method. 3 and 6 wt. % of micro graphite particulates were added to the Al-7Si base matrix. Microstructural characterization was done by using scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscope. Mechanical behaviour of Al-7Si-3 and 6 wt. % composites were evaluated as per ASTM standards. Scanning electron micrographs revealed the uniform distribution of micro graphite particulates in the Al-7Si alloy matrix. EDS analysis confirmed the presence of B and C elements in graphite reinforced composites. Further, it was noted that ultimate tensile and yield strength of Al-7Si alloy increased with the addition of 3 and 6wt. % of graphite particulates. Hardness of graphite reinforced composites was lesser than the base matrix.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Al/Cu/Mg laminated composite sheets produced by the ARB proces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmatabadi, Davood; Tayyebi, Moslem; Hashemi, Ramin; Faraji, Ghader

2018-05-01

In the present study, an Al/Cu/Mg multi-layered composite was produced by accumulative roll bonding (ARB) through seven passes, and its microstructure and mechanical properties were evaluated. The microstructure investigations show that plastic instability occurred in both the copper and magnesium reinforcements in the primary sandwich. In addition, a composite with a perfectly uniform distribution of copper and magnesium reinforcing layers was produced during the last pass. By increasing the number of ARB cycles, the microhardness of the layers including aluminum, copper, and magnesium was significantly increased. The ultimate tensile strength of the sandwich was enhanced continually and reached a maximum value of 355.5 MPa. This strength value was about 3.2, 2, and 2.1 times higher than the initial strength values for the aluminum, copper, and magnesium sheets, respectively. Investigation of tensile fracture surfaces during the ARB process indicated that the fracture mechanism changed to shear ductile at the seventh pass.

Formation tracker design of multiple mobile robots with wheel perturbations: adaptive output-feedback approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoo, Sung Jin

2016-11-01

This paper presents a theoretical design approach for output-feedback formation tracking of multiple mobile robots under wheel perturbations. It is assumed that these perturbations are unknown and the linear and angular velocities of the robots are unmeasurable. First, adaptive state observers for estimating unmeasurable velocities of the robots are developed under the robots' kinematics and dynamics including wheel perturbation effects. Then, we derive a virtual-structure-based formation tracker scheme according to the observer dynamic surface design procedure. The main difficulty of the output-feedback control design is to manage the coupling problems between unmeasurable velocities and unknown wheel perturbation effects. These problems are avoided by using the adaptive technique and the function approximation property based on fuzzy logic systems. From the Lyapunov stability analysis, it is shown that point tracking errors of each robot and synchronisation errors for the desired formation converge to an adjustable neighbourhood of the origin, while all signals in the controlled closed-loop system are semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded.

Simulation training in neurosurgery: advances in education and practice

PubMed Central

Konakondla, Sanjay; Fong, Reginald; Schirmer, Clemens M

2017-01-01

The current simulation technology used for neurosurgical training leaves much to be desired. Significant efforts are thoroughly exhausted in hopes of developing simulations that translate to give learners the “real-life” feel. Though a respectable goal, this may not be necessary as the application for simulation in neurosurgical training may be most useful in early learners. The ultimate uniformly agreeable endpoint of improved outcome and patient safety drives these investments. We explore the development, availability, educational taskforces, cost burdens and the simulation advancements in neurosurgical training. The technologies can be directed at achieving early resident milestones placed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. We discuss various aspects of neurosurgery disciplines with specific technologic advances of simulation software. An overview of the scholarly landscape of the recent publications in the realm of medical simulation and virtual reality pertaining to neurologic surgery is provided. We analyze concurrent concept overlap between PubMed headings and provide a graphical overview of the associations between these terms. PMID:28765716

Ultra-fast self-assembly and stabilization of reactive nanoparticles in reduced graphene oxide films

PubMed Central

Chen, Yanan; Egan, Garth C.; Wan, Jiayu; Zhu, Shuze; Jacob, Rohit Jiji; Zhou, Wenbo; Dai, Jiaqi; Wang, Yanbin; Danner, Valencia A.; Yao, Yonggang; Fu, Kun; Wang, Yibo; Bao, Wenzhong; Li, Teng; Zachariah, Michael R.; Hu, Liangbing

2016-01-01

Nanoparticles hosted in conductive matrices are ubiquitous in electrochemical energy storage, catalysis and energetic devices. However, agglomeration and surface oxidation remain as two major challenges towards their ultimate utility, especially for highly reactive materials. Here we report uniformly distributed nanoparticles with diameters around 10 nm can be self-assembled within a reduced graphene oxide matrix in 10 ms. Microsized particles in reduced graphene oxide are Joule heated to high temperature (∼1,700 K) and rapidly quenched to preserve the resultant nano-architecture. A possible formation mechanism is that microsized particles melt under high temperature, are separated by defects in reduced graphene oxide and self-assemble into nanoparticles on cooling. The ultra-fast manufacturing approach can be applied to a wide range of materials, including aluminium, silicon, tin and so on. One unique application of this technique is the stabilization of aluminium nanoparticles in reduced graphene oxide film, which we demonstrate to have excellent performance as a switchable energetic material. PMID:27515900

Patterns and Oscillations in Reaction-Diffusion Systems with Intrinsic Fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giver, Michael; Goldstein, Daniel; Chakraborty, Bulbul

2013-03-01

Intrinsic or demographic noise has been shown to play an important role in the dynamics of a variety of systems including predator-prey populations, biochemical reactions within cells, and oscillatory chemical reaction systems, and is known to give rise to oscillations and pattern formation well outside the parameter range predicted by standard mean-field analysis. Initially motivated by an experimental model of cells and tissues where the cells are represented by chemical reagents isolated in emulsion droplets, we study the stochastic Brusselator, a simple activator-inhibitor chemical reaction model. Our work extends the results of recent studies on the zero and one dimensional systems with the ultimate goals of understanding the role of noise in spatially structured systems and engineering novel patterns and attractors induced by fluctuations. In the zero dimensional system, we observe a noise induced switching between small and large amplitude oscillations when a separation of time scales is present, while the spatially extended system displays a similar switching between a stationary Turing pattern and uniform oscillations.

Decentralized stabilization for a class of continuous-time nonlinear interconnected systems using online learning optimal control approach.

PubMed

Liu, Derong; Wang, Ding; Li, Hongliang

2014-02-01

In this paper, using a neural-network-based online learning optimal control approach, a novel decentralized control strategy is developed to stabilize a class of continuous-time nonlinear interconnected large-scale systems. First, optimal controllers of the isolated subsystems are designed with cost functions reflecting the bounds of interconnections. Then, it is proven that the decentralized control strategy of the overall system can be established by adding appropriate feedback gains to the optimal control policies of the isolated subsystems. Next, an online policy iteration algorithm is presented to solve the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations related to the optimal control problem. Through constructing a set of critic neural networks, the cost functions can be obtained approximately, followed by the control policies. Furthermore, the dynamics of the estimation errors of the critic networks are verified to be uniformly and ultimately bounded. Finally, a simulation example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the present decentralized control scheme.

Adaptive neural control of MIMO nonlinear systems with a block-triangular pure-feedback control structure.

PubMed

Chen, Zhenfeng; Ge, Shuzhi Sam; Zhang, Yun; Li, Yanan

2014-11-01

This paper presents adaptive neural tracking control for a class of uncertain multiinput-multioutput (MIMO) nonlinear systems in block-triangular form. All subsystems within these MIMO nonlinear systems are of completely nonaffine pure-feedback form and allowed to have different orders. To deal with the nonaffine appearance of the control variables, the mean value theorem is employed to transform the systems into a block-triangular strict-feedback form with control coefficients being couplings among various inputs and outputs. A systematic procedure is proposed for the design of a new singularity-free adaptive neural tracking control strategy. Such a design procedure can remove the couplings among subsystems and hence avoids the possible circular control construction problem. As a consequence, all the signals in the closed-loop system are guaranteed to be semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded. Moreover, the outputs of the systems are ensured to converge to a small neighborhood of the desired trajectories. Simulation studies verify the theoretical findings revealed in this paper.

Taphonomic Patterning of Cemetery Remains Received at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Boston, Massachusetts.

PubMed

Pokines, James T; Zinni, Debra Prince; Crowley, Kate

2016-01-01

A sample of 49 cases of cemetery remains received at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Massachusetts (OCME-MA), in Boston was compared with published taphonomic profiles of cemetery remains. The present sample is composed of a cross section of typical cases in this region that ultimately are derived from modern to historical coffin burials and get turned over to or seized by law enforcement. The present sample was composed of a large portion of isolated remains, and most were completely skeletonized. The most prevalent taphonomic characteristics included uniform staining (77.6%), coffin wear (46.9%), and cortical Exfoliation (49.0%). Other taphonomic changes occurring due to later surface exposure of cemetery remains included subaerial weathering, animal gnawing, algae formation, and excavation marks. A case of one set of skeletal remains associated with coffin artifacts and cemetery offerings that was recovered from transported cemetery fill is also presented. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Primary Payer at DX: Issues with Collection and Assessment of Data Quality.

PubMed

Sherman, Recinda L; Williamson, Laura; Andrews, Patricia; Kahn, Amy

2016-01-01

An individual's access to health insurance influences the amount and type of health services a patient receives for prevention and treatment, and, ultimately, influences survival. The North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) Item #630, Primary Payer at DX, is a required field intended to document health insurance status for the purpose of supporting patterns-of-care studies and other research. However, challenges related to the uniformity of collection and availability of data needed to populate this field diminish the value of the Primary Payer at DX data. A NAACCR taskforce worked on issues surrounding the collection of Primary Payer at DX; including proposing a crosswalk between Primary Payer at DX and the new Public Health Payment Typology standard, often available in hospital discharge databases. However, there are issues with compatibility between coding systems, intent of data collection, timelines for coding insurance, and changes in insurance coverage (partly due to the Affordable Care Act) that continue to complicate the collection and use of Primary Payer at DX data.

Generic protease detection technology for monitoring periodontal disease.

PubMed

Zheng, Xinwei; Cook, Joseph P; Watkinson, Michael; Yang, Shoufeng; Douglas, Ian; Rawlinson, Andrew; Krause, Steffi

2011-01-01

Periodontal diseases are inflammatory conditions that affect the supporting tissues of teeth and can lead to destruction of the bone support and ultimately tooth loss if untreated. Progression of periodontitis is usually site specific but not uniform, and currently there are no accurate clinical methods for distinguishing sites where there is active disease progression from sites that are quiescent. Consequently, unnecessary and costly treatment of periodontal sites that are not progressing may occur. Three proteases have been identified as suitable markers for distinguishing sites with active disease progression and quiescent sites: human neutrophil elastase, cathepsin G and MMP8. Generic sensor materials for the detection of these three proteases have been developed based on thin dextran hydrogel films cross-linked with peptides. Degradation of the hydrogel films was monitored using impedance measurements. The target proteases were detected in the clinically relevant range within a time frame of 3 min. Good specificity for different proteases was achieved by choosing appropriate peptide cross-linkers.

Informatics in radiology: An open-source and open-access cancer biomedical informatics grid annotation and image markup template builder.

PubMed

Mongkolwat, Pattanasak; Channin, David S; Kleper, Vladimir; Rubin, Daniel L

2012-01-01

In a routine clinical environment or clinical trial, a case report form or structured reporting template can be used to quickly generate uniform and consistent reports. Annotation and image markup (AIM), a project supported by the National Cancer Institute's cancer biomedical informatics grid, can be used to collect information for a case report form or structured reporting template. AIM is designed to store, in a single information source, (a) the description of pixel data with use of markups or graphical drawings placed on the image, (b) calculation results (which may or may not be directly related to the markups), and (c) supplemental information. To facilitate the creation of AIM annotations with data entry templates, an AIM template schema and an open-source template creation application were developed to assist clinicians, image researchers, and designers of clinical trials to quickly create a set of data collection items, thereby ultimately making image information more readily accessible.

Informatics in Radiology: An Open-Source and Open-Access Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid Annotation and Image Markup Template Builder

PubMed Central

Channin, David S.; Rubin, Vladimir Kleper Daniel L.

2012-01-01

In a routine clinical environment or clinical trial, a case report form or structured reporting template can be used to quickly generate uniform and consistent reports. Annotation and Image Markup (AIM), a project supported by the National Cancer Institute’s cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid, can be used to collect information for a case report form or structured reporting template. AIM is designed to store, in a single information source, (a) the description of pixel data with use of markups or graphical drawings placed on the image, (b) calculation results (which may or may not be directly related to the markups), and (c) supplemental information. To facilitate the creation of AIM annotations with data entry templates, an AIM template schema and an open-source template creation application were developed to assist clinicians, image researchers, and designers of clinical trials to quickly create a set of data collection items, thereby ultimately making image information more readily accessible. © RSNA, 2012 PMID:22556315

Top-coatless 193nm positive-tone development immersion resist for logic application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lian Cong; Yeh, Tsung Ju; Lin, Yeh-Sheng; Huang, Yu Chin; Kuo, Chien Wen; Huang, Wen Liang; Lin, Chia Hung; Yu, Chun Chi; Hsu, Ray; Wan, I.-Yuan; Lin, Jeff; Im, Kwang-Hwyi; Lim, Hae Jin; Jeon, Hyun K.; Suzuki, Yasuhiro; Xu, Cheng Bai

2015-03-01

In this paper, we summarize our development efforts for a top-coatless 193nm immersion positive tone development (PTD) contact hole (C/H) resist with improved litho and defect performances for logic application specifically with an advance node. The ultimate performance goal was to improve the depth of focus (DoF) margin, mask error enhancement factor (MEEF), critical dimension uniformity (CDU), contact edge roughness (CER), and defect performance. Also, the through pitch CD difference was supposed to be comparable to the previous control resist. Effects of polymer and PAG properties have been evaluated for this purpose. The material properties focused in the evaluation study were polymer activation energy (Ea), polymer solubility differentiated by polymerization process types, and diffusion length (DL) and acidity (pKa) of photoacid generator (PAG). Additionally, the impact of post exposure bake (PEB) temperature was investigated for process condition optimization. As a result of this study, a new resist formulation to satisfy all litho and defect performance was developed and production yield was further improved.

New-Generation Aluminum Composite with Bottom Ash Industrial Waste

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandal, A. K.; Sinha, O. P.

2018-06-01

Industrial waste bottom ash (BA) from a pulverized coal combustion boiler containing hard wear-resistant particles was utilized in this study to form an aluminum composite through a liquid metallurgy route. Composites comprising 5 wt.% and 10 wt.% bottom ash were characterized for their physiochemical, microstructural, mechanical, as well as tribological properties, along with pure aluminum. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) microstructure revealed uniform distribution of BA particles throughout the matrix of the composite, whereas x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed presence of aluminosilicate phase. Addition of 10 wt.% BA improved the Brinell hardness number (BHN) from 13 to 19 and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) from 71 MPa to 87 MPa, whereas ductility was adversely reduced after 5% BA addition. Incorporation of BA particles resulted in reduced dry sliding wear rates examined up to 80 N load compared with aluminum. Hence, such composites having lower cost could be applied as significantly hard, wear-resistant materials in applications in the automotive industry.

Adaptive Neural Networks Prescribed Performance Control Design for Switched Interconnected Uncertain Nonlinear Systems.

PubMed

Li, Yongming; Tong, Shaocheng

2017-06-28

In this paper, an adaptive neural networks (NNs)-based decentralized control scheme with the prescribed performance is proposed for uncertain switched nonstrict-feedback interconnected nonlinear systems. It is assumed that nonlinear interconnected terms and nonlinear functions of the concerned systems are unknown, and also the switching signals are unknown and arbitrary. A linear state estimator is constructed to solve the problem of unmeasured states. The NNs are employed to approximate unknown interconnected terms and nonlinear functions. A new output feedback decentralized control scheme is developed by using the adaptive backstepping design technique. The control design problem of nonlinear interconnected switched systems with unknown switching signals can be solved by the proposed scheme, and only a tuning parameter is needed for each subsystem. The proposed scheme can ensure that all variables of the control systems are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded and the tracking errors converge to a small residual set with the prescribed performance bound. The effectiveness of the proposed control approach is verified by some simulation results.

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.

Adaptive Neural Control for a Class of Pure-Feedback Nonlinear Systems via Dynamic Surface Technique.

PubMed

Liu, Zongcheng; Dong, Xinmin; Xue, Jianping; Li, Hongbo; Chen, Yong

2016-09-01

This brief addresses the adaptive control problem for a class of pure-feedback systems with nonaffine functions possibly being nondifferentiable. Without using the mean value theorem, the difficulty of the control design for pure-feedback systems is overcome by modeling the nonaffine functions appropriately. With the help of neural network approximators, an adaptive neural controller is developed by combining the dynamic surface control (DSC) and minimal learning parameter (MLP) techniques. The key features of our approach are that, first, the restrictive assumptions on the partial derivative of nonaffine functions are removed, second, the DSC technique is used to avoid "the explosion of complexity" in the backstepping design, and the number of adaptive parameters is reduced significantly using the MLP technique, third, smooth robust compensators are employed to circumvent the influences of approximation errors and disturbances. Furthermore, it is proved that all the signals in the closed-loop system are semiglobal uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the designed method.

Biofilm architecture in a novel pressurized biofilm reactor.

PubMed

Jiang, Wei; Xia, Siqing; Duan, Liang; Hermanowicz, Slawomir W

2015-01-01

A novel pure-oxygen pressurized biofilm reactor was operated at different organic loading, mechanical shear and hydrodynamic conditions to understand the relationships between biofilm architecture and its operation. The ultimate goal was to improve the performance of the biofilm reactor. The biofilm was labeled with seven stains and observed with confocal laser scanning microscopy. Unusual biofilm architecture of a ribbon embedded between two surfaces with very few points of attachment was observed. As organic loading increased, the biofilm morphology changed from a moderately rough layer into a locally smoother biomass with significant bulging protuberances, although the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency remained unchanged at about 75%. At higher organic loadings, biofilms contained a larger fraction of active cells distributed uniformly within a proteinaceous matrix with decreasing polysaccharide content. Higher hydrodynamic shear in combination with high organic loading resulted in the collapse of biofilm structure and a substantial decrease in reactor performance (a COD removal of 16%). Moreover, the important role of proteins for the spatial distribution of active cells was demonstrated quantitatively.

GROWTH OF A LOCALIZED SEED MAGNETIC FIELD IN A TURBULENT MEDIUM

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

Cho, Jungyeon; Yoo, Hyunju, E-mail: jcho@cnu.ac.kr

2012-11-10

Turbulence dynamo deals with the amplification of a seed magnetic field in a turbulent medium and has been studied mostly for uniform or spatially homogeneous seed magnetic fields. However, some astrophysical processes (e.g., jets from active galaxies, galactic winds, or ram-pressure stripping in galaxy clusters) can provide localized seed magnetic fields. In this paper, we numerically study amplification of localized seed magnetic fields in a turbulent medium. Throughout the paper, we assume that the driving scale of turbulence is comparable to the size of the system. Our findings are as follows. First, turbulence can amplify a localized seed magnetic fieldmore » very efficiently. The growth rate of magnetic energy density is as high as that for a uniform seed magnetic field. This result implies that magnetic field ejected from an astrophysical object can be a viable source of a magnetic field in a cluster. Second, the localized seed magnetic field disperses and fills the whole system very fast. If turbulence in a system (e.g., a galaxy cluster or a filament) is driven at large scales, we expect that it takes a few large-eddy turnover times for the magnetic field to fill the whole system. Third, growth and turbulence diffusion of a localized seed magnetic field are also fast in high magnetic Prandtl number turbulence. Fourth, even in decaying turbulence, a localized seed magnetic field can ultimately fill the whole system. Although the dispersal rate of the magnetic field is not fast in purely decaying turbulence, it can be enhanced by an additional forcing.« less

Detection of microbial biofilms on food processing surfaces: hyperspectral fluorescence imaging study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jun, Won; Kim, Moon S.; Chao, Kaunglin; Lefcourt, Alan M.; Roberts, Michael S.; McNaughton, James L.

2009-05-01

We used a portable hyperspectral fluorescence imaging system to evaluate biofilm formations on four types of food processing surface materials including stainless steel, polypropylene used for cutting boards, and household counter top materials such as formica and granite. The objective of this investigation was to determine a minimal number of spectral bands suitable to differentiate microbial biofilm formation from the four background materials typically used during food processing. Ultimately, the resultant spectral information will be used in development of handheld portable imaging devices that can be used as visual aid tools for sanitation and safety inspection (microbial contamination) of the food processing surfaces. Pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella cells were grown in low strength M9 minimal medium on various surfaces at 22 +/- 2 °C for 2 days for biofilm formation. Biofilm autofluorescence under UV excitation (320 to 400 nm) obtained by hyperspectral fluorescence imaging system showed broad emissions in the blue-green regions of the spectrum with emission maxima at approximately 480 nm for both E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella biofilms. Fluorescence images at 480 nm revealed that for background materials with near-uniform fluorescence responses such as stainless steel and formica cutting board, regardless of the background intensity, biofilm formation can be distinguished. This suggested that a broad spectral band in the blue-green regions can be used for handheld imaging devices for sanitation inspection of stainless, cutting board, and formica surfaces. The non-uniform fluorescence responses of granite make distinctions between biofilm and background difficult. To further investigate potential detection of the biofilm formations on granite surfaces with multispectral approaches, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed using the hyperspectral fluorescence image data. The resultant PCA score images revealed distinct contrast between biofilms and granite surfaces. This investigation demonstrated that biofilm formations on food processing surfaces, even for background materials with heterogeneous fluorescence responses, can be detected. Furthermore, a multispectral approach in developing handheld inspection devices may be needed to inspect surface materials that exhibit non-uniform fluorescence.

Modeling, Fabrication and Characterization of Scalable Electroless Gold Plated Nanostructures for Enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jang, Gyoung Gug

The scientific and industrial demand for controllable thin gold (Au) film and Au nanostructures is increasing in many fields including opto-electronics, photovoltaics, MEMS devices, diagnostics, bio-molecular sensors, spectro-/microscopic surfaces and probes. In this study, a novel continuous flow electroless (CF-EL) Au plating method is developed to fabricate uniform Au thin films in ambient condition. The enhanced local mass transfer rate and continuous deposition resulting from CF-EL plating improved physical uniformity of deposited Au films and thermally transformed nanoparticles (NPs). Au films and NPs exhibited improved optical photoluminescence (PL) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), respectively, relative to batch immersion EL (BI-EL) plating. Suggested mass transfer models of Au mole deposition are consistent with optical feature of CF-EL and BI-EL films. The prototype CF-EL plating system is upgraded an automated scalable CF-EL plating system with real-time transmission UV-vis (T-UV) spectroscopy which provides the advantage of CF-EL plating, such as more uniform surface morphology, and overcomes the disadvantages of conventional EL plating, such as no continuous process and low deposition rate, using continuous process and controllable deposition rate. Throughout this work, dynamic morphological and chemical transitions during redox-driven self-assembly of Ag and Au film on silica surfaces under kinetic and equilibrium conditions are distinguished by correlating real-time T-UV spectroscopy with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. The characterization suggests that four previously unrecognized time-dependent physicochemical regimes occur during consecutive EL deposition of silver (Ag) and Au onto tin-sensitized silica surfaces: self-limiting Ag activation; transitory Ag NP formation; transitional Au-Ag alloy formation during galvanic replacement of Ag by Au; and uniform morphology formation under controlled hydraulic conditions. A method to achieve the time-resolved optical profile of EL Au plating was devised and provided a new transitional EL Au film growth model which validated mass transfer model prediction of the deposited thickness of ≤100 nm thin films. As a part of the project, validation of mass transfer model, a spectrophotometric method for quantitative analysis of metal ion is developed that improves the limit of detection comparable to conventional instrumental analysis. The present work suggests that modeling, fabrication and characterization of this novel CF-EL plating method is performed to achieve an ultimate purpose: developing a reliable, inexpensive wet chemical process for controlled metal thin film and nanostructure fabrication.

Plasma wakefield acceleration experiments at FACET II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joshi, C.; Adli, E.; An, W.; Clayton, C. E.; Corde, S.; Gessner, S.; Hogan, M. J.; Litos, M.; Lu, W.; Marsh, K. A.; Mori, W. B.; Vafaei-Najafabadi, N.; O'shea, B.; Xu, Xinlu; White, G.; Yakimenko, V.

2018-03-01

During the past two decades of research, the ultra-relativistic beam-driven plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA) concept has achieved many significant milestones. These include the demonstration of ultra-high gradient acceleration of electrons over meter-scale plasma accelerator structures, efficient acceleration of a narrow energy spread electron bunch at high-gradients, positron acceleration using wakes in uniform plasmas and in hollow plasma channels, and demonstrating that highly nonlinear wakes in the ‘blow-out regime’ have the electric field structure necessary for preserving the emittance of the accelerating bunch. A new 10 GeV electron beam facility, Facilities for Accelerator Science and Experimental Test (FACET) II, is currently under construction at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory for the next generation of PWFA research and development. The FACET II beams will enable the simultaneous demonstration of substantial energy gain of a small emittance electron bunch while demonstrating an efficient transfer of energy from the drive to the trailing bunch. In this paper we first describe the capabilities of the FACET II facility. We then describe a series of PWFA experiments supported by numerical and particle-in-cell simulations designed to demonstrate plasma wake generation where the drive beam is nearly depleted of its energy, high efficiency acceleration of the trailing bunch while doubling its energy and ultimately, quantifying the emittance growth in a single stage of a PWFA that has optimally designed matching sections. We then briefly discuss other FACET II plasma-based experiments including in situ positron generation and acceleration, and several schemes that are promising for generating sub-micron emittance bunches that will ultimately be needed for both an early application of a PWFA and for a plasma-based future linear collider.

Plasma wakefield acceleration experiments at FACET II

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

Joshi, C.; Adli, E.; An, W.

During the past two decades of research, the ultra-relativistic beam-driven plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA) concept has achieved many significant milestones. These include the demonstration of ultra-high gradient acceleration of electrons over meter-scale plasma accelerator structures, efficient acceleration of a narrow energy spread electron bunch at high-gradients, positron acceleration using wakes in uniform plasmas and in hollow plasma channels, and demonstrating that highly nonlinear wakes in the 'blow-out regime' have the electric field structure necessary for preserving the emittance of the accelerating bunch. A new 10 GeV electron beam facility, Facilities for Accelerator Science and Experimental Test (FACET) II, is currentlymore » under construction at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory for the next generation of PWFA research and development. The FACET II beams will enable the simultaneous demonstration of substantial energy gain of a small emittance electron bunch while demonstrating an efficient transfer of energy from the drive to the trailing bunch. In this paper we first describe the capabilities of the FACET II facility. We then describe a series of PWFA experiments supported by numerical and particle-in-cell simulations designed to demonstrate plasma wake generation where the drive beam is nearly depleted of its energy, high efficiency acceleration of the trailing bunch while doubling its energy and ultimately, quantifying the emittance growth in a single stage of a PWFA that has optimally designed matching sections. Here, we briefly discuss other FACET II plasma-based experiments including in situ positron generation and acceleration, and several schemes that are promising for generating sub-micron emittance bunches that will ultimately be needed for both an early application of a PWFA and for a plasma-based future linear collider.« less

Plasma wakefield acceleration experiments at FACET II

DOE PAGES

Joshi, C.; Adli, E.; An, W.; ...

2018-01-12

During the past two decades of research, the ultra-relativistic beam-driven plasma wakefield accelerator (PWFA) concept has achieved many significant milestones. These include the demonstration of ultra-high gradient acceleration of electrons over meter-scale plasma accelerator structures, efficient acceleration of a narrow energy spread electron bunch at high-gradients, positron acceleration using wakes in uniform plasmas and in hollow plasma channels, and demonstrating that highly nonlinear wakes in the 'blow-out regime' have the electric field structure necessary for preserving the emittance of the accelerating bunch. A new 10 GeV electron beam facility, Facilities for Accelerator Science and Experimental Test (FACET) II, is currentlymore » under construction at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory for the next generation of PWFA research and development. The FACET II beams will enable the simultaneous demonstration of substantial energy gain of a small emittance electron bunch while demonstrating an efficient transfer of energy from the drive to the trailing bunch. In this paper we first describe the capabilities of the FACET II facility. We then describe a series of PWFA experiments supported by numerical and particle-in-cell simulations designed to demonstrate plasma wake generation where the drive beam is nearly depleted of its energy, high efficiency acceleration of the trailing bunch while doubling its energy and ultimately, quantifying the emittance growth in a single stage of a PWFA that has optimally designed matching sections. Here, we briefly discuss other FACET II plasma-based experiments including in situ positron generation and acceleration, and several schemes that are promising for generating sub-micron emittance bunches that will ultimately be needed for both an early application of a PWFA and for a plasma-based future linear collider.« less

Role of seasonality on predator-prey-subsidy population dynamics.

PubMed

Levy, Dorian; Harrington, Heather A; Van Gorder, Robert A

2016-05-07

The role of seasonality on predator-prey interactions in the presence of a resource subsidy is examined using a system of non-autonomous ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The problem is motivated by the Arctic, inhabited by the ecological system of arctic foxes (predator), lemmings (prey), and seal carrion (subsidy). We construct two nonlinear, nonautonomous systems of ODEs named the Primary Model, and the n-Patch Model. The Primary Model considers spatial factors implicitly, and the n-Patch Model considers space explicitly as a "Stepping Stone" system. We establish the boundedness of the dynamics, as well as the necessity of sufficiently nutritional food for the survival of the predator. We investigate the importance of including the resource subsidy explicitly in the model, and the importance of accounting for predator mortality during migration. We find a variety of non-equilibrium dynamics for both systems, obtaining both limit cycles and chaotic oscillations. We were then able to discuss relevant implications for biologically interesting predator-prey systems including subsidy under seasonal effects. Notably, we can observe the extinction or persistence of a species when the corresponding autonomous system might predict the opposite. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Community and communication in the third age: the impact of internet and cell phone use on attachment to place in later life in England.

PubMed

Gilleard, Chris; Hyde, Martin; Higgs, Paul

2007-07-01

We investigated the following question: Would access to and use of domestic information and communication technology affect people's attachment to place in later life? Drawing upon data on ownership of cell phones and use of Internet/e-mail from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we measured the association between access to such technology and self-rated attachment to one's neighborhood. There was a significant negative association between attachment to place and ownership and use of domestic information and communication technology, particularly the Internet. This association remained after taking account of age/cohort differences, as well as the influence of gender, disability, socioeconomic status of the neighborhood, differences in income and educational status, and length of residence in the area. The results suggest that ownership and use of domestic information and communication technology reduces the sense of attachment to the local neighborhood among individuals 50 and older in England. It does not, however, influence the perceived sense of trust in or perceived friendliness of people in the neighborhood. We suggest that domestic information and communication technology may be more liberating of neighborhood boundedness than destructive of social capital.

Boundedness of the mixed velocity-temperature derivative skewness in homogeneous isotropic turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, S. L.; Antonia, R. A.; Djenidi, L.; Danaila, L.; Zhou, Y.

2016-09-01

The transport equation for the mean scalar dissipation rate ɛ ¯ θ is derived by applying the limit at small separations to the generalized form of Yaglom's equation in two types of flows, those dominated mainly by a decay of energy in the streamwise direction and those which are forced, through a continuous injection of energy at large scales. In grid turbulence, the imbalance between the production of ɛ ¯ θ due to stretching of the temperature field and the destruction of ɛ ¯ θ by the thermal diffusivity is governed by the streamwise advection of ɛ ¯ θ by the mean velocity. This imbalance is intrinsically different from that in stationary forced periodic box turbulence (or SFPBT), which is virtually negligible. In essence, the different types of imbalance represent different constraints imposed by the large-scale motion on the relation between the so-called mixed velocity-temperature derivative skewness ST and the scalar enstrophy destruction coefficient Gθ in different flows, thus resulting in non-universal approaches of ST towards a constant value as Reλ increases. The data for ST collected in grid turbulence and in SFPBT indicate that the magnitude of ST is bounded, this limit being close to 0.5.

A new method for solving reachable domain of spacecraft with a single impulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Qi; Qiao, Dong; Shang, Haibin; Liu, Xinfu

2018-04-01

This paper develops a new approach to solve the reachable domain of a spacecraft with a single maximum available impulse. First, the distance in a chosen direction, started from a given position on the initial orbit, is formulated. Then, its extreme value is solved to obtain the maximum reachable distance in this direction. The envelop of the reachable domain in three-dimensional space is determined by solving the maximum reachable distance in all directions. Four scenarios are analyzed, including three typical scenarios (either the maneuver position or impulse direction is fixed, or both are arbitrary) and a new extended scenario (the maneuver position is restricted to an interval and the impulse direction is arbitrary). Moreover, the symmetry and the boundedness of the reachable domain are discussed in detail. The former is helpful to reduce the numerical computation, while the latter decides the maximum eccentricity of the initial orbit for a maximum available impulse. The numerical simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for solving the reachable domain in all four scenarios. Especially, the reachable domain with a highly elliptical initial orbit can be determined successfully, which remains unsolved in the existing papers.

Verifying Stability of Dynamic Soft-Computing Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wen, Wu; Napolitano, Marcello; Callahan, John

1997-01-01

Soft computing is a general term for algorithms that learn from human knowledge and mimic human skills. Example of such algorithms are fuzzy inference systems and neural networks. Many applications, especially in control engineering, have demonstrated their appropriateness in building intelligent systems that are flexible and robust. Although recent research have shown that certain class of neuro-fuzzy controllers can be proven bounded and stable, they are implementation dependent and difficult to apply to the design and validation process. Many practitioners adopt the trial and error approach for system validation or resort to exhaustive testing using prototypes. In this paper, we describe our on-going research towards establishing necessary theoretic foundation as well as building practical tools for the verification and validation of soft-computing systems. A unified model for general neuro-fuzzy system is adopted. Classic non-linear system control theory and recent results of its applications to neuro-fuzzy systems are incorporated and applied to the unified model. It is hoped that general tools can be developed to help the designer to visualize and manipulate the regions of stability and boundedness, much the same way Bode plots and Root locus plots have helped conventional control design and validation.

Enforcing realizability in explicit multi-component species transport

PubMed Central

McDermott, Randall J.; Floyd, Jason E.

2015-01-01

We propose a strategy to guarantee realizability of species mass fractions in explicit time integration of the partial differential equations governing fire dynamics, which is a multi-component transport problem (realizability requires all mass fractions are greater than or equal to zero and that the sum equals unity). For a mixture of n species, the conventional strategy is to solve for n − 1 species mass fractions and to obtain the nth (or “background”) species mass fraction from one minus the sum of the others. The numerical difficulties inherent in the background species approach are discussed and the potential for realizability violations is illustrated. The new strategy solves all n species transport equations and obtains density from the sum of the species mass densities. To guarantee realizability the species mass densities must remain positive (semidefinite). A scalar boundedness correction is proposed that is based on a minimal diffusion operator. The overall scheme is implemented in a publicly available large-eddy simulation code called the Fire Dynamics Simulator. A set of test cases is presented to verify that the new strategy enforces realizability, does not generate spurious mass, and maintains second-order accuracy for transport. PMID:26692634

A computational method for sharp interface advection.

PubMed

Roenby, Johan; Bredmose, Henrik; Jasak, Hrvoje

2016-11-01

We devise a numerical method for passive advection of a surface, such as the interface between two incompressible fluids, across a computational mesh. The method is called isoAdvector, and is developed for general meshes consisting of arbitrary polyhedral cells. The algorithm is based on the volume of fluid (VOF) idea of calculating the volume of one of the fluids transported across the mesh faces during a time step. The novelty of the isoAdvector concept consists of two parts. First, we exploit an isosurface concept for modelling the interface inside cells in a geometric surface reconstruction step. Second, from the reconstructed surface, we model the motion of the face-interface intersection line for a general polygonal face to obtain the time evolution within a time step of the submerged face area. Integrating this submerged area over the time step leads to an accurate estimate for the total volume of fluid transported across the face. The method was tested on simple two-dimensional and three-dimensional interface advection problems on both structured and unstructured meshes. The results are very satisfactory in terms of volume conservation, boundedness, surface sharpness and efficiency. The isoAdvector method was implemented as an OpenFOAM ® extension and is published as open source.

Distributed robust adaptive control of high order nonlinear multi agent systems.

PubMed

Hashemi, Mahnaz; Shahgholian, Ghazanfar

2018-03-01

In this paper, a robust adaptive neural network based controller is presented for multi agent high order nonlinear systems with unknown nonlinear functions, unknown control gains and unknown actuator failures. At first, Neural Network (NN) is used to approximate the nonlinear uncertainty terms derived from the controller design procedure for the followers. Then, a novel distributed robust adaptive controller is developed by combining the backstepping method and the Dynamic Surface Control (DSC) approach. The proposed controllers are distributed in the sense that the designed controller for each follower agent only requires relative state information between itself and its neighbors. By using the Young's inequality, only few parameters need to be tuned regardless of NN nodes number. Accordingly, the problems of dimensionality curse and explosion of complexity are counteracted, simultaneously. New adaptive laws are designed by choosing the appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals. The proposed approach proves the boundedness of all the closed-loop signals in addition to the convergence of the distributed tracking errors to a small neighborhood of the origin. Simulation results indicate that the proposed controller is effective and robust. Copyright © 2018 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On Event-Triggered Adaptive Architectures for Decentralized and Distributed Control of Large-Scale Modular Systems

PubMed Central

Albattat, Ali; Gruenwald, Benjamin C.; Yucelen, Tansel

2016-01-01

The last decade has witnessed an increased interest in physical systems controlled over wireless networks (networked control systems). These systems allow the computation of control signals via processors that are not attached to the physical systems, and the feedback loops are closed over wireless networks. The contribution of this paper is to design and analyze event-triggered decentralized and distributed adaptive control architectures for uncertain networked large-scale modular systems; that is, systems consist of physically-interconnected modules controlled over wireless networks. Specifically, the proposed adaptive architectures guarantee overall system stability while reducing wireless network utilization and achieving a given system performance in the presence of system uncertainties that can result from modeling and degraded modes of operation of the modules and their interconnections between each other. In addition to the theoretical findings including rigorous system stability and the boundedness analysis of the closed-loop dynamical system, as well as the characterization of the effect of user-defined event-triggering thresholds and the design parameters of the proposed adaptive architectures on the overall system performance, an illustrative numerical example is further provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed decentralized and distributed control approaches. PMID:27537894

On Event-Triggered Adaptive Architectures for Decentralized and Distributed Control of Large-Scale Modular Systems.

PubMed

Albattat, Ali; Gruenwald, Benjamin C; Yucelen, Tansel

2016-08-16

The last decade has witnessed an increased interest in physical systems controlled over wireless networks (networked control systems). These systems allow the computation of control signals via processors that are not attached to the physical systems, and the feedback loops are closed over wireless networks. The contribution of this paper is to design and analyze event-triggered decentralized and distributed adaptive control architectures for uncertain networked large-scale modular systems; that is, systems consist of physically-interconnected modules controlled over wireless networks. Specifically, the proposed adaptive architectures guarantee overall system stability while reducing wireless network utilization and achieving a given system performance in the presence of system uncertainties that can result from modeling and degraded modes of operation of the modules and their interconnections between each other. In addition to the theoretical findings including rigorous system stability and the boundedness analysis of the closed-loop dynamical system, as well as the characterization of the effect of user-defined event-triggering thresholds and the design parameters of the proposed adaptive architectures on the overall system performance, an illustrative numerical example is further provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed decentralized and distributed control approaches.

Coordination control of flexible manufacturing systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Menon, Satheesh R.

One of the first attempts was made to develop a model driven system for coordination control of Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS). The structure and activities of the FMS are modeled using a colored Petri Net based system. This approach has the advantage of being able to model the concurrency inherent in the system. It provides a method for encoding the system state, state transitions and the feasible transitions at any given state. Further structural analysis (for detecting conflicting actions, deadlocks which might occur during operation, etc.) can be performed. The problem is also addressed of implementing and testing the behavior of existing dynamic scheduling approaches in simulations of realistic situations. A simulation architecture was proposed and performance evaluation was carried out for establishing the correctness of the model, stability of the system from a structural (deadlocks) and temporal (boundedness of backlogs) points of view, and for collection of statistics for performance measures such as machine and robot utilizations, average wait times and idle times of resources. A real-time implementation architecture for the coordination controller was also developed and implemented in a software simulated environment. Given the current technology of FMS control, the model-driven colored Petri net-based approach promises to develop a very flexible control environment.

Dynamics of a Delayed HIV-1 Infection Model with Saturation Incidence Rate and CTL Immune Response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Ting; Liu, Haihong; Xu, Chenglin; Yan, Fang

2016-12-01

In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of a five-dimensional virus model incorporating saturation incidence rate, CTL immune response and three time delays which represent the latent period, virus production period and immune response delay, respectively. We begin this model by proving the positivity and boundedness of the solutions. Our model admits three possible equilibrium solutions, namely the infection-free equilibrium E0, the infectious equilibrium without immune response E1 and the infectious equilibrium with immune response E2. Moreover, by analyzing corresponding characteristic equations, the local stability of each of the feasible equilibria and the existence of Hopf bifurcation at the equilibrium point E2 are established, respectively. Further, by using fluctuation lemma and suitable Lyapunov functionals, it is shown that E0 is globally asymptotically stable when the basic reproductive numbers for viral infection R0 is less than unity. When the basic reproductive numbers for immune response R1 is less than unity and R0 is greater than unity, the equilibrium point E1 is globally asymptotically stable. Finally, some numerical simulations are carried out for illustrating the theoretical results.

Cloud-based uniform ChIP-Seq processing tools for modENCODE and ENCODE.

PubMed

Trinh, Quang M; Jen, Fei-Yang Arthur; Zhou, Ziru; Chu, Kar Ming; Perry, Marc D; Kephart, Ellen T; Contrino, Sergio; Ruzanov, Peter; Stein, Lincoln D

2013-07-22

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the aim of the Model Organism ENCyclopedia of DNA Elements (modENCODE) project is to provide the biological research community with a comprehensive encyclopedia of functional genomic elements for both model organisms C. elegans (worm) and D. melanogaster (fly). With a total size of just under 10 terabytes of data collected and released to the public, one of the challenges faced by researchers is to extract biologically meaningful knowledge from this large data set. While the basic quality control, pre-processing, and analysis of the data has already been performed by members of the modENCODE consortium, many researchers will wish to reinterpret the data set using modifications and enhancements of the original protocols, or combine modENCODE data with other data sets. Unfortunately this can be a time consuming and logistically challenging proposition. In recognition of this challenge, the modENCODE DCC has released uniform computing resources for analyzing modENCODE data on Galaxy (https://github.com/modENCODE-DCC/Galaxy), on the public Amazon Cloud (http://aws.amazon.com), and on the private Bionimbus Cloud for genomic research (http://www.bionimbus.org). In particular, we have released Galaxy workflows for interpreting ChIP-seq data which use the same quality control (QC) and peak calling standards adopted by the modENCODE and ENCODE communities. For convenience of use, we have created Amazon and Bionimbus Cloud machine images containing Galaxy along with all the modENCODE data, software and other dependencies. Using these resources provides a framework for running consistent and reproducible analyses on modENCODE data, ultimately allowing researchers to use more of their time using modENCODE data, and less time moving it around.

Cloud-based uniform ChIP-Seq processing tools for modENCODE and ENCODE

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the aim of the Model Organism ENCyclopedia of DNA Elements (modENCODE) project is to provide the biological research community with a comprehensive encyclopedia of functional genomic elements for both model organisms C. elegans (worm) and D. melanogaster (fly). With a total size of just under 10 terabytes of data collected and released to the public, one of the challenges faced by researchers is to extract biologically meaningful knowledge from this large data set. While the basic quality control, pre-processing, and analysis of the data has already been performed by members of the modENCODE consortium, many researchers will wish to reinterpret the data set using modifications and enhancements of the original protocols, or combine modENCODE data with other data sets. Unfortunately this can be a time consuming and logistically challenging proposition. Results In recognition of this challenge, the modENCODE DCC has released uniform computing resources for analyzing modENCODE data on Galaxy (https://github.com/modENCODE-DCC/Galaxy), on the public Amazon Cloud (http://aws.amazon.com), and on the private Bionimbus Cloud for genomic research (http://www.bionimbus.org). In particular, we have released Galaxy workflows for interpreting ChIP-seq data which use the same quality control (QC) and peak calling standards adopted by the modENCODE and ENCODE communities. For convenience of use, we have created Amazon and Bionimbus Cloud machine images containing Galaxy along with all the modENCODE data, software and other dependencies. Conclusions Using these resources provides a framework for running consistent and reproducible analyses on modENCODE data, ultimately allowing researchers to use more of their time using modENCODE data, and less time moving it around. PMID:23875683

Localized tidal deformations and dissipation in Enceladus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beuthe, M.

2017-12-01

The geologic activity at Enceladus's south pole remains unexplained, though tidal deformations are probably the ultimate cause. Recent gravity and libration data indicate that Enceladus's icy crust floats on a global ocean, is rather thin, and has a strongly non-uniform thickness. Tidal effects are enhanced by crustal thinning at the south pole, so that realistic models of tidal tectonics and dissipation should include lateral variations of shell structure. I solve this problem with a new theory of non-uniform viscoelastic thin shells, allowing for large lateral variations of crustal thickness as well as large 3D variations of crustal rheology. The coupling to tidal forcing takes into account self-gravity, density stratification below the shell, core viscoelasticity, and crustal compressibility. The resulting tidal thin shell equations are two partial differential equations defined on the spherical surface, which can be solved numerically much faster than 3D Finite Element Methods. The error on tidal displacements is less than 5% if the thickness is less than 10% of the radius while the error on the deviatoric stress varies between 0 and 10%. If Enceladus's shell is conductive with isostatic thickness variations, crustal thinning increases surface stresses by 60% at the north pole and by a factor of more than 3 at the south pole. Similarly, the surface flux resulting from crustal dissipation increases by a factor of 3 at the south pole. If dissipation is an order of magnitude higher than predicted by the Maxwell model (as suggested by recent experimental data), the power dissipated in the crust could reach 50% of the total power required to maintain the crust in thermal equilibrium, and most of the surface flux variation could be explained by latitudinal variations of crustal dissipation. In all cases, a large part of the heat budget must be generated below the crust.

The Effect of Antibody Size and Mechanical Loading on Solute Diffusion Through the Articular Surface of Cartilage.

PubMed

DiDomenico, Chris D; Goodearl, Andrew; Yarilina, Anna; Sun, Victor; Mitra, Soumya; Sterman, Annette Schwartz; Bonassar, Lawrence J

2017-09-01

Because of the heterogeneous nature of articular cartilage tissue, penetration of potential therapeutic molecules for osteoarthritis (OA) through the articular surface (AS) is complex, with many factors that affect transport of these solutes within the tissue. Therefore, the goal of this study is to investigate how the size of antibody (Ab) variants, as well as application of cyclic mechanical loading, affects solute transport within healthy cartilage tissue. Penetration of fluorescently tagged solutes was quantified using confocal microscopy. For all the solutes tested, fluorescence curves were obtained through the articular surface. On average, diffusivities for the solutes of sizes 200 kDa, 150 kDa, 50 kDa, and 25 kDa were 3.3, 3.4, 5.1, and 6.0 μm2/s from 0 to 100 μm from the articular surface. Diffusivities went up to a maximum of 16.5, 18.5, 20.5, and 23.4 μm2/s for the 200 kDa, 150 kDa, 50 kDa, and 25 kDa molecules, respectively, from 225 to 325 μm from the surface. Overall, the effect of loading was very significant, with maximal transport enhancement for each solute ranging from 2.2 to 3.4-fold near 275 μm. Ultimately, solutes of this size do not diffuse uniformly nor are convected uniformly, through the depth of the cartilage tissue. This research potentially holds great clinical significance to discover ways of further optimizing transport into cartilage and leads to effective antibody-based treatments for OA.

A computational investigation of the interstitial flow induced by a variably thick blanket of very fine sand covering a coarse sand bed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartzke, Gerhard; Huhn, Katrin; Bryan, Karin R.

2017-10-01

Blanketed sediment beds can have different bed mobility characteristics relative to those of beds composed of uniform grain-size distribution. Most of the processes that affect bed mobility act in the direct vicinity of the bed or even within the bed itself. To simulate the general conditions of analogue experiments, a high-resolution three-dimensional numerical `flume tank' model was developed using a coupled finite difference method flow model and a discrete element method particle model. The method was applied to investigate the physical processes within blanketed sediment beds under the influence of varying flow velocities. Four suites of simulations, in which a matrix of uniform large grains (600 μm) was blanketed by variably thick layers of small particles (80 μm; blanket layer thickness approx. 80, 350, 500 and 700 μm), were carried out. All beds were subjected to five predefined flow velocities ( U 1-5=10-30 cm/s). The fluid profiles, relative particle distances and porosity changes within the bed were determined for each configuration. The data show that, as the thickness of the blanket layer increases, increasingly more small particles accumulate in the indentations between the larger particles closest to the surface. This results in decreased porosity and reduced flow into the bed. In addition, with increasing blanket layer thickness, an increasingly larger number of smaller particles are forced into the pore spaces between the larger particles, causing further reduction in porosity. This ultimately causes the interstitial flow, which would normally allow entrainment of particles in the deeper parts of the bed, to decrease to such an extent that the bed is stabilized.

Improvements of high-power diode laser line generators open up new application fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meinschien, J.; Bayer, A.; Bruns, P.; Aschke, L.; Lissotschenko, V. N.

2009-02-01

Beam shaping improvements of line generators based on high power diode lasers lead to new application fields as hardening, annealing or cutting of various materials. Of special interest is the laser treatment of silicon. An overview of the wide variety of applications is presented with special emphasis of the relevance of unique laser beam parameters like power density and beam uniformity. Complementary to vision application and plastic processing, these new application markets become more and more important and can now be addressed by high power diode laser line generators. Herewith, a family of high power diode laser line generators is presented that covers this wide spectrum of application fields with very different requirements, including new applications as cutting of silicon or glass, as well as the beam shaping concepts behind it. A laser that generates a 5m long and 4mm wide homogeneous laser line is shown with peak intensities of 0.2W/cm2 for inspection of railway catenaries as well as a laser that generates a homogeneous intensity distribution of 60mm x 2mm size with peak intensities of 225W/cm2 for plastic processing. For the annealing of silicon surfaces, a laser was designed that generates an extraordinary uniform intensity distribution with residual inhomogeneities (contrast ratio) of less than 3% over a line length of 11mm and peak intensities of up to 75kW/cm2. Ultimately, a laser line is shown with a peak intensity of 250kW/cm2 used for cutting applications. Results of various application tests performed with the above mentioned lasers are discussed, particularly the surface treatment of silicon and the cutting of glass.

PEEK (polyether-ether-ketone)-coated nitinol wire: Film stability for biocompatibility applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheiko, Nataliia; Kékicheff, Patrick; Marie, Pascal; Schmutz, Marc; Jacomine, Leandro; Perrin-Schmitt, Fabienne

2016-12-01

High quality biocompatible poly-ether-ether-ketone (PEEK) coatings were produced on NiTi shape memory alloy wires using dipping deposition from colloidal aqueous PEEK dispersions after substrate surface treatment. The surface morphology and microstructure were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy at every step of the process from the as-received Nitinol substrate to the ultimate PEEK-coated NiTi wire. Nanoscratch tests were carried out to access the adhesive behavior of the polymer coated film to the NiTi. The results indicate that the optimum process conditions in cleaning, chemical etching, and electropolishing the NiTi, were the most important and determining parameters to be achieved. Thus, high quality PEEK coatings were obtained on NiTi wires, straight or curved (even with a U-shape) with a homogeneous microstructure along the wire length and a uniform thickness of 12 μm without any development of cracks or the presence of large voids. The biocompatibility of the PEEK coating film was checked in fibrobast cultured cells. The coating remains stable in biological environment with negligible Ni ion release, no cytotoxicity, and no delamination observed with time.

Cognitive task analysis and innovation of training: the case of structured troubleshooting.

PubMed

Schaafstal, A; Schraagen, J M; van Berlo, M

2000-01-01

Troubleshooting is often a time-consuming and difficult activity. The question of how the training of novice technicians can be improved was the starting point of the research described in this article. A cognitive task analysis was carried out consisting of two preliminary observational studies on troubleshooting in naturalistic settings, combined with an interpretation of the data obtained in the context of the existing literature. On the basis of this cognitive task analysis, a new method for the training of troubleshooting was developed (structured troubleshooting), which combines a domain-independent strategy for troubleshooting with a context-dependent, multiple-level, functional decomposition of systems. This method has been systematically evaluated for its use in training. The results show that technicians trained in structured troubleshooting solve twice as many malfunctions, in less time, than those trained in the traditional way. Moreover, structured troubleshooting can be taught in less time than can traditional troubleshooting. Finally, technicians learn to troubleshoot in an explicit and uniform way. These advantages of structured troubleshooting ultimately lead to a reduction in training and troubleshooting costs.

Dynamic maps of UV damage formation and repair for the human genome

PubMed Central

Hu, Jinchuan; Adebali, Ogun; Adar, Sheera; Sancar, Aziz

2017-01-01

Formation and repair of UV-induced DNA damage in human cells are affected by cellular context. To study factors influencing damage formation and repair genome-wide, we developed a highly sensitive single-nucleotide resolution damage mapping method [high-sensitivity damage sequencing (HS–Damage-seq)]. Damage maps of both cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and pyrimidine-pyrimidone (6-4) photoproducts [(6-4)PPs] from UV-irradiated cellular and naked DNA revealed that the effect of transcription factor binding on bulky adducts formation varies, depending on the specific transcription factor, damage type, and strand. We also generated time-resolved UV damage maps of both CPDs and (6-4)PPs by HS–Damage-seq and compared them to the complementary repair maps of the human genome obtained by excision repair sequencing to gain insight into factors that affect UV-induced DNA damage and repair and ultimately UV carcinogenesis. The combination of the two methods revealed that, whereas UV-induced damage is virtually uniform throughout the genome, repair is affected by chromatin states, transcription, and transcription factor binding, in a manner that depends on the type of DNA damage. PMID:28607063

A new time calibration method for switched-capacitor-array-based waveform samplers

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

Kim, H.; Chen, C. -T.; Eclov, N.

2014-08-24

Here we have developed a new time calibration method for the DRS4 waveform sampler that enables us to precisely measure the non-uniform sampling interval inherent in the switched-capacitor cells of the DRS4. The method uses the proportionality between the differential amplitude and sampling interval of adjacent switched-capacitor cells responding to a sawtooth-shape pulse. In the experiment, a sawtooth-shape pulse with a 40 ns period generated by a Tektronix AWG7102 is fed to a DRS4 evaluation board for calibrating the sampling intervals of all 1024 cells individually. The electronic time resolution of the DRS4 evaluation board with the new time calibrationmore » is measured to be ~2.4 ps RMS by using two simultaneous Gaussian pulses with 2.35 ns full-width at half-maximum and applying a Gaussian fit. The time resolution dependencies on the time difference with the new time calibration are measured and compared to results obtained by another method. Ultimately, the new method could be applicable for other switched-capacitor-array technology-based waveform samplers for precise time calibration.« less

Influence of Li₂Sb Additions on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al-20Mg₂Si Alloy.

PubMed

Yu, Hong-Chen; Wang, Hui-Yuan; Chen, Lei; Zha, Min; Wang, Cheng; Li, Chao; Jiang, Qi-Chuan

2016-03-29

It is found that Li₂Sb compound can act as the nucleus of primary Mg₂Si during solidification, by which the particle size of primary Mg₂Si decreased from ~300 to ~15-25 μm. Owing to the synergistic effect of the Li₂Sb nucleus and adsorption-poisoning of Li atoms, the effect of complex modification of Li-Sb on primary Mg₂Si was better than that of single modification of Li or Sb. When Li-Sb content increased from 0 to 0.2 and further to 0.5 wt.%, coarse dendrite changed to defective truncated octahedron and finally to perfect truncated octahedral shape. With the addition of Li and Sb, ultimate compression strength (UCS) of Al-20Mg₂Si alloys increased from ~283 to ~341 MPa and the yield strength (YS) at 0.2% offset increased from ~112 to ~179 MPa while almost no change was seen in the uniform elongation. Our study offers a simple method to control the morphology and size of primary Mg₂Si, which will inspire developing new Al-Mg-Si alloys with improved mechanical properties.

High-performance object tracking and fixation with an online neural estimator.

PubMed

Kumarawadu, Sisil; Watanabe, Keigo; Lee, Tsu-Tian

2007-02-01

Vision-based target tracking and fixation to keep objects that move in three dimensions in view is important for many tasks in several fields including intelligent transportation systems and robotics. Much of the visual control literature has focused on the kinematics of visual control and ignored a number of significant dynamic control issues that limit performance. In line with this, this paper presents a neural network (NN)-based binocular tracking scheme for high-performance target tracking and fixation with minimum sensory information. The procedure allows the designer to take into account the physical (Lagrangian dynamics) properties of the vision system in the control law. The design objective is to synthesize a binocular tracking controller that explicitly takes the systems dynamics into account, yet needs no knowledge of dynamic nonlinearities and joint velocity sensory information. The combined neurocontroller-observer scheme can guarantee the uniform ultimate bounds of the tracking, observer, and NN weight estimation errors under fairly general conditions on the controller-observer gains. The controller is tested and verified via simulation tests in the presence of severe target motion changes.

From exclusion to acceptance: a case history of homosexuality in the U.S. Court of Military Appeals.

PubMed

Wilson-Buford, Kellie

2013-01-01

Policing the legality and normalcy of service members' sexual lives was a contentious process for military courts throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s that resulted in the inconsistent enforcement of the homosexual exclusion policy. Military personnel of all ranks and occupations harbored a variety of attitudes and beliefs about homosexuality that challenged the legitimacy and uniformity of the military's legal assault on sexual deviance. Over half of the active duty personnel originally accused of homosexual tendencies received either sentence reductions or sentence reversals as a result of this highly contested process by which official military policy was translated into practice via courts-martial. Paradoxically, the very policies that discriminated against alleged homosexual service members generated legal avenues through which gays and lesbians exercised their rights to due process, and, ultimately, their rights as American citizens embodied in the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Rather than being an ideologically homophobic monolith, the Cold War American military rocked with contestation over an exclusion policy that attempted--unsuccessfully--to eliminate all gay and lesbian service members.

Adaptive output feedback control of flexible-joint robots using neural networks: dynamic surface design approach.

PubMed

Yoo, Sung Jin; Park, Jin Bae; Choi, Yoon Ho

2008-10-01

In this paper, we propose a new robust output feedback control approach for flexible-joint electrically driven (FJED) robots via the observer dynamic surface design technique. The proposed method only requires position measurements of the FJED robots. To estimate the link and actuator velocity information of the FJED robots with model uncertainties, we develop an adaptive observer using self-recurrent wavelet neural networks (SRWNNs). The SRWNNs are used to approximate model uncertainties in both robot (link) dynamics and actuator dynamics, and all their weights are trained online. Based on the designed observer, the link position tracking controller using the estimated states is induced from the dynamic surface design procedure. Therefore, the proposed controller can be designed more simply than the observer backstepping controller. From the Lyapunov stability analysis, it is shown that all signals in a closed-loop adaptive system are uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the simulation results on a three-link FJED robot are presented to validate the good position tracking performance and robustness of the proposed control system against payload uncertainties and external disturbances.

Novel adaptive neural control design for a constrained flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle based on actuator compensation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bu, Xiangwei; Wu, Xiaoyan; He, Guangjun; Huang, Jiaqi

2016-03-01

This paper investigates the design of a novel adaptive neural controller for the longitudinal dynamics of a flexible air-breathing hypersonic vehicle with control input constraints. To reduce the complexity of controller design, the vehicle dynamics is decomposed into the velocity subsystem and the altitude subsystem, respectively. For each subsystem, only one neural network is utilized to approach the lumped unknown function. By employing a minimal-learning parameter method to estimate the norm of ideal weight vectors rather than their elements, there are only two adaptive parameters required for neural approximation. Thus, the computational burden is lower than the ones derived from neural back-stepping schemes. Specially, to deal with the control input constraints, additional systems are exploited to compensate the actuators. Lyapunov synthesis proves that all the closed-loop signals involved are uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, simulation results show that the adopted compensation scheme can tackle actuator constraint effectively and moreover velocity and altitude can stably track their reference trajectories even when the physical limitations on control inputs are in effect.

Graduated Sovereignty and Global Governance Gaps: Special Economic Zones and the Illicit Trade In Tobacco Products.

PubMed

Holden, Chris

2017-07-01

Illicit trade in tobacco products has been a significant problem globally for many years. It allows cigarettes to be sold far below their legal price and thus contributes to higher consumption, morbidity and mortality, and deprives state treasuries of a substantial amount of revenue. This article identifies special economic zones (SEZs), particularly free trade zones, as a key conduit for this illicit trade. The development of SEZs as weak points in the global governance architecture is explained with reference to the concept of 'graduated sovereignty', whereby the uniform management of territory by modern states has given way to a more spatially selective form of territorial governance, in which some slices of territory are more fully integrated into the world economy than others via various forms of differential regulation. Attempts to comprehensively (re)regulate SEZs, in the face of growing evidence of the dysfunctionalities that they can engender, have so far been unsuccessful. It is concluded that the neo-liberal global economy has facilitated a regulatory 'race to the bottom', a problem that can only ultimately be overcome by international negotiation and agreement.

Mobility-Resolved Ion Selection in Uniform Drift Field Ion Mobility Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry: Dynamic Switching in Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations

DOE PAGES

Webb, Ian K.; Garimella, Sandilya V. B.; Tolmachev, Aleksey V.; ...

2014-09-15

A Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM) module that allows ion mobility separations and the switching of ions between alternative drift paths is described. The SLIM switch component has a “Tee” configuration and allows switching of ions between a linear path and a 90-degree bend. By controlling switching times, ions can be deflected to an alternative channel as a function of their mobilities. In the initial evaluation the switch is used in a static mode and shown compatible with high performance ion mobility separations at 4 torr. In the “dynamic mode” we show that mobility-selected ions can be switched intomore » the alternative channel, and that various ion species can be independently selected based on their mobilities for time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF MS) IMS detection and mass analysis. Ultimately, this development also provides the basis for e.g. the selection of specific mobilities for storage and accumulation, and key modules for the assembly of SLIM devices enabling much more complex sequences of ion manipulations.« less

Application of facies analysis to improve gas reserve growth in Fluvial Frio Reservoirs, La Gloria Field, South Texas

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

Ambrose, W.A.; Jackson, M.L.W.; Finley, R.J.

1988-01-01

Geologically based infill-drilling strategies hold great potential for extension of domestic gas resources. Traditional gas-well drilling and development have often assumed homogeneous and continuous reservoirs; uniform gas-well spacing has resulted in numerous untapped reservoirs isolated from other productive sand bodies. Strategically located infill wells drilled into these undrained reservoirs may ultimately contact an additional 20% of original gas in place in Texas gas fields. Tertiary formations in the Texas Gulf Coast commonly exhibit multiple fluvial and fluvial-deltaic reservoirs that contain vertical and horizontal permeability barriers. For example, the Frio La Gloria field (Jim Wells and Brooks Counties, Texas) contains isolatedmore » and compartmentalized reservoirs that can be related to the irregular distribution of heterogeneous facies. Net-sand and log-facies maps in areas of dense well spacing delineate relatively continuous pay defined by lenticular point-bar and channel-fill deposits 1,500-2,500 ft wide. These point-bar deposits are flanked laterally by sand-poor levee and splay facies that isolate the reservoirs into narrow, dip-elongate bands.« less

Finite-horizon differential games for missile-target interception system using adaptive dynamic programming with input constraints

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Jingliang; Liu, Chunsheng

2018-01-01

In this paper, the problem of intercepting a manoeuvring target within a fixed final time is posed in a non-linear constrained zero-sum differential game framework. The Nash equilibrium solution is found by solving the finite-horizon constrained differential game problem via adaptive dynamic programming technique. Besides, a suitable non-quadratic functional is utilised to encode the control constraints into a differential game problem. The single critic network with constant weights and time-varying activation functions is constructed to approximate the solution of associated time-varying Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation online. To properly satisfy the terminal constraint, an additional error term is incorporated in a novel weight-updating law such that the terminal constraint error is also minimised over time. By utilising Lyapunov's direct method, the closed-loop differential game system and the estimation weight error of the critic network are proved to be uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by using a simple non-linear system and a non-linear missile-target interception system, assuming first-order dynamics for the interceptor and target.

Modification of the Structure of Low-Carbon Pipe Steel by Helical Rolling, and the Increase in Its Strength and Cold Resistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Derevyagina, L. S.; Gordienko, A. I.; Pochivalov, Yu. I.; Smirnova, A. S.

2018-01-01

The paper reports the investigation results on the microstructure and mechanical properties of low-carbon pipe steel after helical rolling. The processing of the steel leads to the refinement of ferritic grains from 12 (for the coarse-grained state) to 5 μm, to the strengthening of ferrite by carbide particles, a decrease in the total fraction of perlite grains, a more uniform alternation of ferrite and perlite, and the formation of regions with bainitic structure. The mechanical properties of the steel have been determined in the conditions of static and dynamic loading in the range of test temperatures from +20 to-70°C. As a result of processing, the ultimate tensile strength increases (from 650 to 770 MPa at a rolling temperature from 920°C) and the viscoplastic properties at negative temperatures are improved significantly. The ductile-brittle transition temperature of the rolled steel decreases from-32 to-55°C and the impact toughness at the test temperature-40°C increases eight times compared to the initial state of the steel.

Hybrid sunlight/LED illumination and renewable solar energy saving concepts for indoor lighting.

PubMed

Tsuei, Chih-Hsuan; Sun, Wen-Shing; Kuo, Chien-Cheng

2010-11-08

A hybrid method for using sunlight and light-emitting diode (LED) illumination powered by renewable solar energy for indoor lighting is simulated and presented in this study. We can illuminate an indoor space and collect the solar energy using an optical switching system. When the system is turned off, the full spectrum of the sunlight is concentrated by a concentrator, to be absorbed by solar photovoltaic devices that provide the electricity to power the LEDs. When the system is turned on, the sunlight collected by the concentrator is split into visible and non-visible rays by a beam splitter. The visible rays pass through the light guide into a light box where it is mixed with LED light to ultimately provide uniform illumination by a diffuser. The non-visible rays are absorbed by the solar photovoltaic devices to provide electrical power for the LEDs. Simulation results show that the efficiency of the hybrid sunlight/LED illumination with the renewable solar energy saving design is better than that of LED and traditional lighting systems.

International perspectives on workplace bullying among nurses: a review.

PubMed

Johnson, S L

2009-03-01

This article examines the nursing literature on workplace bullying with the aim of reaching a better understanding of the phenomenon. Workplace bullying occurs in many occupations and workplaces, including nursing. The following databases were used for the literature review: CINAHL, PubMed, Pro Quest and EBSCO host. Only articles in English were used. Articles from outside the nursing literature were also examined to gain a broader understanding of workplace bullying. Workplace bullying is more than a simple conflict between two individuals. It is a complex phenomenon that can only be understood through an examination of social, individual and organizational factors. Workplace bullying has been shown to impact the physical and psychological health of victims, as well as their performance at work. Workplace bullying impacts the organization through decreased productivity, increased sick time and employee attrition. More nurse-specific research is needed in this area. Research needs to be conducted in a systematic and uniform manner so that generalizations across studies can be made. The ultimate goal of this research should be to generate an understanding of this phenomenon so that solutions can be found.

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.

Dynamic maps of UV damage formation and repair for the human genome.

PubMed

Hu, Jinchuan; Adebali, Ogun; Adar, Sheera; Sancar, Aziz

2017-06-27

Formation and repair of UV-induced DNA damage in human cells are affected by cellular context. To study factors influencing damage formation and repair genome-wide, we developed a highly sensitive single-nucleotide resolution damage mapping method [high-sensitivity damage sequencing (HS-Damage-seq)]. Damage maps of both cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and pyrimidine-pyrimidone (6-4) photoproducts [(6-4)PPs] from UV-irradiated cellular and naked DNA revealed that the effect of transcription factor binding on bulky adducts formation varies, depending on the specific transcription factor, damage type, and strand. We also generated time-resolved UV damage maps of both CPDs and (6-4)PPs by HS-Damage-seq and compared them to the complementary repair maps of the human genome obtained by excision repair sequencing to gain insight into factors that affect UV-induced DNA damage and repair and ultimately UV carcinogenesis. The combination of the two methods revealed that, whereas UV-induced damage is virtually uniform throughout the genome, repair is affected by chromatin states, transcription, and transcription factor binding, in a manner that depends on the type of DNA damage.

Genome-wide chemical mutagenesis screens allow unbiased saturation of the cancer genome and identification of drug resistance mutations.

PubMed

Brammeld, Jonathan S; Petljak, Mia; Martincorena, Inigo; Williams, Steven P; Alonso, Luz Garcia; Dalmases, Alba; Bellosillo, Beatriz; Robles-Espinoza, Carla Daniela; Price, Stacey; Barthorpe, Syd; Tarpey, Patrick; Alifrangis, Constantine; Bignell, Graham; Vidal, Joana; Young, Jamie; Stebbings, Lucy; Beal, Kathryn; Stratton, Michael R; Saez-Rodriguez, Julio; Garnett, Mathew; Montagut, Clara; Iorio, Francesco; McDermott, Ultan

2017-04-01

Drug resistance is an almost inevitable consequence of cancer therapy and ultimately proves fatal for the majority of patients. In many cases, this is the consequence of specific gene mutations that have the potential to be targeted to resensitize the tumor. The ability to uniformly saturate the genome with point mutations without chromosome or nucleotide sequence context bias would open the door to identify all putative drug resistance mutations in cancer models. Here, we describe such a method for elucidating drug resistance mechanisms using genome-wide chemical mutagenesis allied to next-generation sequencing. We show that chemically mutagenizing the genome of cancer cells dramatically increases the number of drug-resistant clones and allows the detection of both known and novel drug resistance mutations. We used an efficient computational process that allows for the rapid identification of involved pathways and druggable targets. Such a priori knowledge would greatly empower serial monitoring strategies for drug resistance in the clinic as well as the development of trials for drug-resistant patients. © 2017 Brammeld et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Is refeeding syndrome relevant for critically ill patients?

PubMed

Koekkoek, Wilhelmina A C; Van Zanten, Arthur R H

2018-03-01

To summarize recent relevant studies regarding refeeding syndrome (RFS) in critically ill patients and provide recommendations for clinical practice. Recent knowledge regarding epidemiology of refeeding syndrome among critically ill patients, how to identify ICU patients at risk, and strategies to reduce the potential negative impact on outcome are discussed. RFS is a potentially fatal acute metabolic derangement that ultimately can result in marked morbidity and even mortality. These metabolic derangements in ICU patients differ from otherwise healthy patients with RFS, as there is lack of anabolism. This is because of external stressors inducing a hypercatabolic response among other reasons also reflected by persistent high glucagon despite initiation of feeding. Lack of a proper uniform definition complicates diagnosis and research of RFS. However, refeeding hypophosphatemia is commonly encountered during critical illness. The correlations between risk factors proposed by international guidelines and the occurrence of RFS in ICU patients remains unclear. Therefore, regular phosphate monitoring is recommended. Based on recent trials among critically ill patients, only treatment with supplementation of electrolytes and vitamins seems not sufficient. In addition, caloric restriction for several days and gradual increase of caloric intake over days is recommendable.

Building America Case Study: Standard- Versus High-Velocity Air Distribution in High-Performance Townhomes, Denver, Colorado

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

IBACOS investigated the performance of a small-diameter high velocity heat pump system compared to a conventional system in a new construction triplex townhouse. A ductless heat pump system also was installed for comparison, but the homebuyer backed out because of aesthetic concerns about that system. In total, two buildings, having identical solar orientation and comprised of six townhomes, were monitored for comfort and energy performance. Results show that the small-diameter system provides more uniform temperatures from floor to floor in the three-story townhome. No clear energy consumption benefit was observed from either system. The builder is continuing to explore themore » small-diameter system as its new standard system to provide better comfort and indoor air quality. The homebuilder also explored the possibility of shifting its townhome product to meet the U.S. Department of Energy Challenge Home National Program Requirements. Ultimately, the builder decided that adoption of these practices would be too disruptive midstream in the construction cycle. However, the townhomes met the ENERGY STAR Version 3.0 program requirements.« less

Comparative Cooling Season Performance of Air Distribution Systems in Multistory Townhomes

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

Poerschke, Andrew; Beach, Rob; Beggs, Timothy

2016-08-01

IBACOS investigated the performance of a small-diameter high velocity heat pump system compared to a conventional system in a new construction triplex townhouse. A ductless heat pump system also was installed for comparison, but the homebuyer backed out because of aesthetic concerns about that system. In total, two buildings, having identical solar orientation and comprised of six townhomes, were monitored for comfort and energy performance. Results show that the small-diameter system provides more uniform temperatures from floor to floor in the three-story townhome. No clear energy consumption benefit was observed from either system. The builder is continuing to explore themore » small-diameter system as its new standard system to provide better comfort and indoor air quality. The homebuilder also explored the possibility of shifting its townhome product to meet the U.S. Department of Energy Challenge Home National Program Requirements. Ultimately, the builder decided that adoption of these practices would be too disruptive midstream in the construction cycle. However, the townhomes met the ENERGY STAR Version 3.0 program requirements.« less

Histopathologic aid to diagnosis of sarcoidosis: report of 8 cases.

PubMed

Manonukul, Jane; Wanitphakdeedecha, Rungsima; Wisuthsarewong, Wanee; Thirapote, Panitta

2006-06-01

Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic disease of unknown etiology. The disease is common in blacks and is very rare in Thailand. It presents as one of the most variable manifestations usually affecting the lungs and intrathoracic lymph nodes. Other organs such as liver, spleen, joints and eyes including skin are also involved The common cutaneous lesions are maculopapular, erythematous plaque, subcutaneous nodule, scar and lupus pernio. No reliable indicator is useful for diagnosis except the histopathologic change which is the only way for approaching this disease. Sarcoidosis is the disease of exclusion. Various infections producing granulomas should be excluded histologically. The ultimate diagnosis requires clinical correlation, laboratory investigations, chest X-ray as well as available tissue culture. Herein, the authors reported eight cases of sarcoidosis by retrospective study primarily diagnosed by histopathological findings at Siriraj Hospital from January, 1997 to December, 2004 with many different clinical presentations. Despite the diverse clinical pictures, interestingly, the presented patients almost had the same histopathologic findings as small, uniform, discrete naked granulomas usually without necrosis. These findings act as a hallmark for diagnosis of this disease.

Adaptive NN tracking control of uncertain nonlinear discrete-time systems with nonaffine dead-zone input.

PubMed

Liu, Yan-Jun; Tong, Shaocheng

2015-03-01

In the paper, an adaptive tracking control design is studied for a class of nonlinear discrete-time systems with dead-zone input. The considered systems are of the nonaffine pure-feedback form and the dead-zone input appears nonlinearly in the systems. The contributions of the paper are that: 1) it is for the first time to investigate the control problem for this class of discrete-time systems with dead-zone; 2) there are major difficulties for stabilizing such systems and in order to overcome the difficulties, the systems are transformed into an n-step-ahead predictor but nonaffine function is still existent; and 3) an adaptive compensative term is constructed to compensate for the parameters of the dead-zone. The neural networks are used to approximate the unknown functions in the transformed systems. Based on the Lyapunov theory, it is proven that all the signals in the closed-loop system are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded and the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood of zero. Two simulation examples are provided to verify the effectiveness of the control approach in the paper.

Non-Destructive Monitoring of Charge-Discharge Cycles on Lithium Ion Batteries using 7Li Stray-Field Imaging

PubMed Central

Tang, Joel A.; Dugar, Sneha; Zhong, Guiming; Dalal, Naresh S.; Zheng, Jim P.; Yang, Yong; Fu, Riqiang

2013-01-01

Magnetic resonance imaging provides a noninvasive method for in situ monitoring of electrochemical processes involved in charge/discharge cycling of batteries. Determining how the electrochemical processes become irreversible, ultimately resulting in degraded battery performance, will aid in developing new battery materials and designing better batteries. Here we introduce the use of an alternative in situ diagnostic tool to monitor the electrochemical processes. Utilizing a very large field-gradient in the fringe field of a magnet, stray-field-imaging (STRAFI) technique significantly improves the image resolution. These STRAFI images enable the real time monitoring of the electrodes at a micron level. It is demonstrated by two prototype half-cells, graphite∥Li and LiFePO4∥Li, that the high-resolution 7Li STRAFI profiles allow one to visualize in situ Li-ions transfer between the electrodes during charge/discharge cyclings as well as the formation and changes of irreversible microstructures of the Li components, and particularly reveal a non-uniform Li-ion distribution in the graphite. PMID:24005580

Effects of MgO modified β-TCP nanoparticles on the microstructure and properties of β-TCP/Mg-Zn-Zr composites.

PubMed

Zheng, H R; Li, Z; You, C; Liu, D B; Chen, M F

2017-03-01

The mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy composites were improved by the addition of MgO surface modified tricalcium phosphate ceramic nanoparticles (m-β-TCP). Mg-3Zn-0.8Zr composites with unmodified (MZZT) and modified (MZZMT) nanoparticles were produced by high shear mixing technology. Effects of MgO m-β-TCP nanoparticles on the microstructure, mechanical properties, electrochemical corrosion properties and cytocompatibility of Mg-Zn-Zr/β-TCP composites were investigated. After hot extrusion deformation and dynamic recrystallization, the grain size of MZZMT was the half size of MZZT and the distribution of m-β-TCP particles in the matrix was more uniform than β-TCP particles. The yield tensile strength (YTS), ultimate tensile strength (UTS), and corrosion potential (Ecorr) of MZZMT were higher than MZZT; the corrosion current density (I corr ) of MZZMT was lower than MZZT. Cell proliferation of co-cultured MZZMT and MZZT composite samples were roughly the same and the cell number at each time point is higher for MZZMT than for MZZT samples.

Leader-follower formation control of underactuated surface vehicles based on sliding mode control and parameter estimation.

PubMed

Sun, Zhijian; Zhang, Guoqing; Lu, Yu; Zhang, Weidong

2018-01-01

This paper studies the leader-follower formation control of underactuated surface vehicles with model uncertainties and environmental disturbances. A parameter estimation and upper bound estimation based sliding mode control scheme is proposed to solve the problem of the unknown plant parameters and environmental disturbances. For each of these leader-follower formation systems, the dynamic equations of position and attitude are analyzed using coordinate transformation with the aid of the backstepping technique. All the variables are guaranteed to be uniformly ultimately bounded stable in the closed-loop system, which is proven by the distribution design Lyapunov function synthesis. The main advantages of this approach are that: first, parameter estimation based sliding mode control can enhance the robustness of the closed-loop system in presence of model uncertainties and environmental disturbances; second, a continuous function is developed to replace the signum function in the design of sliding mode scheme, which devotes to reduce the chattering of the control system. Finally, numerical simulations are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dendrite-free Li metal anode enabled by a 3D free-standing lithiophilic nitrogen-enriched carbon sponge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Guangmei; Ren, Xiaohua; Ma, Xiaoxin; Zhang, Le; Zhai, Wei; Ai, Qing; Xu, Xiaoyan; Zhang, Lin; Si, Pengchao; Feng, Jinkui; Ding, Fei; Ci, Lijie

2018-05-01

Lithium metal is considered as the ultimate anode material for high-energy Li battery systems. However, the commercial application of lithium anode is impeded by issues with safety and low coulombic efficiency induced by Li dendrite growth. Herein, a free-standing three-dimensional nitrogen-enriched graphitic carbon sponge with a high nitrogen content is proposed as a multifunctional current collect for Lithium accommodation. The abundant lithiophilic N-containing functional groups are served as preferred nucleation sites to guide a uniform Li deposition. In addition, the nitrogen-enriched graphitic carbon sponge with a high specific surface area can effectively reduce the local current density. As a result of the synergistic effect, the nitrogen-enriched graphitic carbon sponge electrode realizes a long-term stable cycling without dendrites formation. Notably, the as-obtained composite electrode can deliver an ultra-high specific capacity of ∼3175 mA h g-1. The nitrogen-enriched graphitic carbon sponge might provide innovative insights to design a superior matrix for dendrite-free Li anode.

Haemodynamic predictors of a penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer rupture using fluid–structure interaction analysis

PubMed Central

D'Ancona, Giuseppe; Amaducci, Andrea; Rinaudo, Antonino; Pasta, Salvatore; Follis, Fabrizio; Pilato, Michele; Baglini, Roberto

2013-01-01

We present preliminary data on the flow-induced haemodynamic and structural loads exerted on a penetrating atherosclerotic aortic ulcer (PAU). Specifically, one-way fluid–structure interaction analysis was performed on the aortic model reconstructed from a 66-year-old male patient with a PAU that evolved into an intramural haematoma and rupture of the thoracic aorta. The results show that elevated blood pressure (117 mmHg) and low flow velocity at the aortic wall (0.15 m/s2) occurred in the region of the PAU. We also found a low value of time-averaged wall shear stress (1.24 N/m2) and a high value of the temporal oscillation in the wall shear stress (oscillatory shear index = 0.13) in the region of the PAU. After endovascular treatment, these haemodynamic parameters were distributed uniformly on the luminal surface of the stent graft. These findings suggest that wall shear stress could be considered one of the major haemodynamic factors indicating the structural fragility of the PAU wall, which ultimately lead to PAU growth and rupture. PMID:23736658

Radiation-MHD models of elephant trunks and globules in HII regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mackey, Jonathan; Lim, Andrew J.

2011-01-01

We study the formation and evolution of pillars of dense gas, known as elephant trunks, at the boundaries of HII regions, formed by shadowing of ionising radiation by dense clumps. The effects of magnetic fields on this process are investigated using 3D radiation-magnetohydrodynamics simulations. For a simulation in which an initially uniform magnetic field of strength \\vert B\\vert≃50 μG is oriented perpendicular to the radiation propagation direction, the field is swept into alignment with the pillar during its dynamical evolution, in agreement with observations of the ``Pillars of Creation'' in M16, and of some cometary globules. This effect is significantly enhanced when the simulation is re-run with a weaker field of ≃18 μG. A stronger field with \\vert B\\vert≃ 160 μG is sufficient to prevent this evolution completely, also significantly affecting the photoionisation process. Using a larger simulation domain it is seen that the pillar formation models studied in Mackey & Lim (2010) ultimately evolve to cometary structures in the absence of dense gas further from the star.

Discrete-time online learning control for a class of unknown nonaffine nonlinear systems using reinforcement learning.

PubMed

Yang, Xiong; Liu, Derong; Wang, Ding; Wei, Qinglai

2014-07-01

In this paper, a reinforcement-learning-based direct adaptive control is developed to deliver a desired tracking performance for a class of discrete-time (DT) nonlinear systems with unknown bounded disturbances. We investigate multi-input-multi-output unknown nonaffine nonlinear DT systems and employ two neural networks (NNs). By using Implicit Function Theorem, an action NN is used to generate the control signal and it is also designed to cancel the nonlinearity of unknown DT systems, for purpose of utilizing feedback linearization methods. On the other hand, a critic NN is applied to estimate the cost function, which satisfies the recursive equations derived from heuristic dynamic programming. The weights of both the action NN and the critic NN are directly updated online instead of offline training. By utilizing Lyapunov's direct method, the closed-loop tracking errors and the NN estimated weights are demonstrated to be uniformly ultimately bounded. Two numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the present approach. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Approximate N-Player Nonzero-Sum Game Solution for an Uncertain Continuous Nonlinear System.

PubMed

Johnson, Marcus; Kamalapurkar, Rushikesh; Bhasin, Shubhendu; Dixon, Warren E

2015-08-01

An approximate online equilibrium solution is developed for an N -player nonzero-sum game subject to continuous-time nonlinear unknown dynamics and an infinite horizon quadratic cost. A novel actor-critic-identifier structure is used, wherein a robust dynamic neural network is used to asymptotically identify the uncertain system with additive disturbances, and a set of critic and actor NNs are used to approximate the value functions and equilibrium policies, respectively. The weight update laws for the actor neural networks (NNs) are generated using a gradient-descent method, and the critic NNs are generated by least square regression, which are both based on the modified Bellman error that is independent of the system dynamics. A Lyapunov-based stability analysis shows that uniformly ultimately bounded tracking is achieved, and a convergence analysis demonstrates that the approximate control policies converge to a neighborhood of the optimal solutions. The actor, critic, and identifier structures are implemented in real time continuously and simultaneously. Simulations on two and three player games illustrate the performance of the developed method.

Accidental and experimentally induced 5-fluorouracil toxicity in dogs.

PubMed

Sayre, Rebecca S; Barr, James W; Bailey, E Murl

2012-10-01

To summarize the literature involving 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) toxicosis in dogs. 5-Fluorouracil's mechanism of action revolves around the metabolism of 5-FU into fluorouridine triphosphate which then interferes with RNA synthesis and function as well as the inhibition of thymidylate synthase which ultimately impairs DNA stability. Toxicity of 5-FU is the most pronounced on rapidly dividing cells. Toxicity manifests itself mainly in the neurologic, gastrointestinal, respiratory, or hematopoietic systems. History of accidental exposure to 5-FU-containing products. Therapy for 5-FU toxicosis involves typical decontamination procedures and symptomatic therapy for the subsequent toxicity. Seizure control and treatment of the severe gastrointestinal signs that follow are the primary goals in the acute setting. As the disease progresses, management of the sequelae to bone marrow suppression and pulmonary complications are essential. The prognosis for dogs with ingestion of 5-FU is dependent on the amount consumed, with severe intoxication carrying a poor prognosis. Toxic doses can be as little as 5 mg/kg, and doses ≥40 mg/kg are reported to be uniformly fatal. © Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society 2012.

Approximate Dynamic Programming: Combining Regional and Local State Following Approximations.

PubMed

Deptula, Patryk; Rosenfeld, Joel A; Kamalapurkar, Rushikesh; Dixon, Warren E

2018-06-01

An infinite-horizon optimal regulation problem for a control-affine deterministic system is solved online using a local state following (StaF) kernel and a regional model-based reinforcement learning (R-MBRL) method to approximate the value function. Unlike traditional methods such as R-MBRL that aim to approximate the value function over a large compact set, the StaF kernel approach aims to approximate the value function in a local neighborhood of the state that travels within a compact set. In this paper, the value function is approximated using a state-dependent convex combination of the StaF-based and the R-MBRL-based approximations. As the state enters a neighborhood containing the origin, the value function transitions from being approximated by the StaF approach to the R-MBRL approach. Semiglobal uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB) convergence of the system states to the origin is established using a Lyapunov-based analysis. Simulation results are provided for two, three, six, and ten-state dynamical systems to demonstrate the scalability and performance of the developed method.

Effective monitoring of agriculture: a response.

PubMed

Sachs, Jeffrey D; Remans, Roseline; Smukler, Sean M; Winowiecki, Leigh; Andelman, Sandy J; Cassman, Kenneth G; Castle, David; DeFries, Ruth; Denning, Glenn; Fanzo, Jessica; Jackson, Louise E; Leemans, Rik; Lehmann, Johannes; Milder, Jeffrey C; Naeem, Shahid; Nziguheba, Generose; Palm, Cheryl A; Pingali, Prabhu L; Reganold, John P; Richter, Daniel D; Scherr, Sara J; Sircely, Jason; Sullivan, Clare; Tomich, Thomas P; Sanchez, Pedro A

2012-03-01

The development of effective agricultural monitoring networks is essential to track, anticipate and manage changes in the social, economic and environmental aspects of agriculture. We welcome the perspective of Lindenmayer and Likens (J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 1559) as published in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring on our earlier paper, "Monitoring the World's Agriculture" (Sachs et al., Nature, 2010, 466, 558-560). In this response, we address their three main critiques labeled as 'the passive approach', 'the problem with uniform metrics' and 'the problem with composite metrics'. We expand on specific research questions at the core of the network design, on the distinction between key universal and site-specific metrics to detect change over time and across scales, and on the need for composite metrics in decision-making. We believe that simultaneously measuring indicators of the three pillars of sustainability (environmentally sound, social responsible and economically viable) in an effectively integrated monitoring system will ultimately allow scientists and land managers alike to find solutions to the most pressing problems facing global food security. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Fuzzy Adaptive Decentralized Optimal Control for Strict Feedback Nonlinear Large-Scale Systems.

PubMed

Sun, Kangkang; Sui, Shuai; Tong, Shaocheng

2018-04-01

This paper considers the optimal decentralized fuzzy adaptive control design problem for a class of interconnected large-scale nonlinear systems in strict feedback form and with unknown nonlinear functions. The fuzzy logic systems are introduced to learn the unknown dynamics and cost functions, respectively, and a state estimator is developed. By applying the state estimator and the backstepping recursive design algorithm, a decentralized feedforward controller is established. By using the backstepping decentralized feedforward control scheme, the considered interconnected large-scale nonlinear system in strict feedback form is changed into an equivalent affine large-scale nonlinear system. Subsequently, an optimal decentralized fuzzy adaptive control scheme is constructed. The whole optimal decentralized fuzzy adaptive controller is composed of a decentralized feedforward control and an optimal decentralized control. It is proved that the developed optimal decentralized controller can ensure that all the variables of the control system are uniformly ultimately bounded, and the cost functions are the smallest. Two simulation examples are provided to illustrate the validity of the developed optimal decentralized fuzzy adaptive control scheme.

Neural Approximation-Based Adaptive Control for a Class of Nonlinear Nonstrict Feedback Discrete-Time Systems.

PubMed

Yan-Jun Liu; Shu Li; Shaocheng Tong; Chen, C L Philip

2017-07-01

In this paper, an adaptive control approach-based neural approximation is developed for a class of uncertain nonlinear discrete-time (DT) systems. The main characteristic of the considered systems is that they can be viewed as a class of multi-input multioutput systems in the nonstrict feedback structure. The similar control problem of this class of systems has been addressed in the past, but it focused on the continuous-time systems. Due to the complicacies of the system structure, it will become more difficult for the controller design and the stability analysis. To stabilize this class of systems, a new recursive procedure is developed, and the effect caused by the noncausal problem in the nonstrict feedback DT structure can be solved using a semirecurrent neural approximation. Based on the Lyapunov difference approach, it is proved that all the signals of the closed-loop system are semiglobal, ultimately uniformly bounded, and a good tracking performance can be guaranteed. The feasibility of the proposed controllers can be validated by setting a simulation example.

Adaptive Approximation-Based Regulation Control for a Class of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems Without Feedback Linearizability.

PubMed

Wang, Ning; Sun, Jing-Chao; Han, Min; Zheng, Zhongjiu; Er, Meng Joo

2017-09-06

In this paper, for a general class of uncertain nonlinear (cascade) systems, including unknown dynamics, which are not feedback linearizable and cannot be solved by existing approaches, an innovative adaptive approximation-based regulation control (AARC) scheme is developed. Within the framework of adding a power integrator (API), by deriving adaptive laws for output weights and prediction error compensation pertaining to single-hidden-layer feedforward network (SLFN) from the Lyapunov synthesis, a series of SLFN-based approximators are explicitly constructed to exactly dominate completely unknown dynamics. By the virtue of significant advancements on the API technique, an adaptive API methodology is eventually established in combination with SLFN-based adaptive approximators, and it contributes to a recursive mechanism for the AARC scheme. As a consequence, the output regulation error can asymptotically converge to the origin, and all other signals of the closed-loop system are uniformly ultimately bounded. Simulation studies and comprehensive comparisons with backstepping- and API-based approaches demonstrate that the proposed AARC scheme achieves remarkable performance and superiority in dealing with unknown dynamics.

A frequency and sensitivity tunable microresonator array for high-speed quantum processor readout

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

Whittaker, J. D., E-mail: jwhittaker@dwavesys.com; Swenson, L. J.; Volkmann, M. H.

Superconducting microresonators have been successfully utilized as detection elements for a wide variety of applications. With multiplexing factors exceeding 1000 detectors per transmission line, they are the most scalable low-temperature detector technology demonstrated to date. For high-throughput applications, fewer detectors can be coupled to a single wire but utilize a larger per-detector bandwidth. For all existing designs, fluctuations in fabrication tolerances result in a non-uniform shift in resonance frequency and sensitivity, which ultimately limits the efficiency of bandwidth utilization. Here, we present the design, implementation, and initial characterization of a superconducting microresonator readout integrating two tunable inductances per detector. Wemore » demonstrate that these tuning elements provide independent control of both the detector frequency and sensitivity, allowing us to maximize the transmission line bandwidth utilization. Finally, we discuss the integration of these detectors in a multilayer fabrication stack for high-speed readout of the D-Wave quantum processor, highlighting the use of control and routing circuitry composed of single-flux-quantum loops to minimize the number of control wires at the lowest temperature stage.« less

Toward a treaty on safety and cost-effectiveness of pharmaceuticals and medical devices: enhancing an endangered global public good

PubMed Central

Faunce, Thomas Alured

2006-01-01

• Expert evaluations of the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of pharmaceutical and medical devices, prior to marketing approval or reimbursement listing, collectively represent a globally important public good. The scientific processes involved play a major role in protecting the public from product risks such as unintended or adverse events, sub-standard production and unnecessary burdens on individual and governmental healthcare budgets. • Most States now have an increasing policy interest in this area, though institutional arrangements, particularly in the area of cost-effectiveness analysis of medical devices, are not uniformly advanced and are fragile in the face of opposing multinational industry pressure to recoup investment and maintain profit margins. • This paper examines the possibility, in this context, of States commencing negotiations toward bilateral trade agreement provisions, and ultimately perhaps a multilateral Treaty, on safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness analysis of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Such obligations may robustly facilitate a conceptually interlinked, but endangered, global public good, without compromising the capacity of intellectual property laws to facilitate local product innovations. PMID:16569240

Plant Secondary Metabolites as Rodent Repellents: a Systematic Review.

PubMed

Hansen, Sabine C; Stolter, Caroline; Imholt, Christian; Jacob, Jens

2016-09-01

The vast number of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) produced by higher plants has generated many efforts to exploit their potential for pest control. We performed a systematic literature search to retrieve relevant publications, and we evaluated these according to PSM groups to derive information about the potential for developing plant-derived rodent repellents. We screened a total of 54 publications where different compounds or plants were tested regarding rodent behavior/metabolism. In the search for widely applicable products, we recommend multi-species systematic screening of PSMs, especially from the essential oil and terpenoid group, as laboratory experiments have uniformly shown the strongest effects across species. Other groups of compounds might be more suitable for the management of species-specific or sex-specific issues, as the effects of some compounds on particular rodent target species or sex might not be present in non-target species or in both sexes. Although plant metabolites have potential as a tool for ecologically-based rodent management, this review demonstrates inconsistent success across laboratory, enclosure, and field studies, which ultimately has lead to a small number of currently registered PSM-based rodent repellents.

Multiresolution strategies for the numerical solution of optimal control problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Sachin

There exist many numerical techniques for solving optimal control problems but less work has been done in the field of making these algorithms run faster and more robustly. The main motivation of this work is to solve optimal control problems accurately in a fast and efficient way. Optimal control problems are often characterized by discontinuities or switchings in the control variables. One way of accurately capturing the irregularities in the solution is to use a high resolution (dense) uniform grid. This requires a large amount of computational resources both in terms of CPU time and memory. Hence, in order to accurately capture any irregularities in the solution using a few computational resources, one can refine the mesh locally in the region close to an irregularity instead of refining the mesh uniformly over the whole domain. Therefore, a novel multiresolution scheme for data compression has been designed which is shown to outperform similar data compression schemes. Specifically, we have shown that the proposed approach results in fewer grid points in the grid compared to a common multiresolution data compression scheme. The validity of the proposed mesh refinement algorithm has been verified by solving several challenging initial-boundary value problems for evolution equations in 1D. The examples have demonstrated the stability and robustness of the proposed algorithm. The algorithm adapted dynamically to any existing or emerging irregularities in the solution by automatically allocating more grid points to the region where the solution exhibited sharp features and fewer points to the region where the solution was smooth. Thereby, the computational time and memory usage has been reduced significantly, while maintaining an accuracy equivalent to the one obtained using a fine uniform mesh. Next, a direct multiresolution-based approach for solving trajectory optimization problems is developed. The original optimal control problem is transcribed into a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem that is solved using standard NLP codes. The novelty of the proposed approach hinges on the automatic calculation of a suitable, nonuniform grid over which the NLP problem is solved, which tends to increase numerical efficiency and robustness. Control and/or state constraints are handled with ease, and without any additional computational complexity. The proposed algorithm is based on a simple and intuitive method to balance several conflicting objectives, such as accuracy of the solution, convergence, and speed of the computations. The benefits of the proposed algorithm over uniform grid implementations are demonstrated with the help of several nontrivial examples. Furthermore, two sequential multiresolution trajectory optimization algorithms for solving problems with moving targets and/or dynamically changing environments have been developed. For such problems, high accuracy is desirable only in the immediate future, yet the ultimate mission objectives should be accommodated as well. An intelligent trajectory generation for such situations is thus enabled by introducing the idea of multigrid temporal resolution to solve the associated trajectory optimization problem on a non-uniform grid across time that is adapted to: (i) immediate future, and (ii) potential discontinuities in the state and control variables.

Getting “Just Deserts” or Seeing the “Silver Lining”: The Relation between Judgments of Immanent and Ultimate Justice

PubMed Central

Harvey, Annelie J.; Callan, Mitchell J.

2014-01-01

People can perceive misfortunes as caused by previous bad deeds (immanent justice reasoning) or resulting in ultimate compensation (ultimate justice reasoning). Across two studies, we investigated the relation between these types of justice reasoning and identified the processes (perceptions of deservingness) that underlie them for both others (Study 1) and the self (Study 2). Study 1 demonstrated that observers engaged in more ultimate (vs. immanent) justice reasoning for a “good” victim and greater immanent (vs. ultimate) justice reasoning for a “bad” victim. In Study 2, participants' construals of their bad breaks varied as a function of their self-worth, with greater ultimate (immanent) justice reasoning for participants with higher (lower) self-esteem. Across both studies, perceived deservingness of bad breaks or perceived deservingness of ultimate compensation mediated immanent and ultimate justice reasoning respectively. PMID:25036011

The everyday lives of energy transitions: Contested sociotechnical imaginaries in the American West.

PubMed

Smith, Jessica M; Tidwell, Abraham Sd

2016-06-01

This article brings together two growing literatures - on sociotechnical imaginaries in science and technology studies and on resource materialities in anthropology - to explore how two energy-producing communities in the American West understand the moral salience of energy systems and the place of labor within them. Studies of energy sociotechnical imaginaries overwhelmingly focus on the role that state and transnational actors play in shaping perceptions of the 'good society', rather than how these imaginaries inform and are transformed in the lived experience of everyday people. We illuminate the contested dimension of sociotechnical imaginaries and their positioning within structures of power that inform visions of moral behavior and social order. Whereas the role of energy in national imaginaries is grounded almost entirely in the consumption it enables, examining the everyday ethics of people who live and work in Colorado's uranium-rich Western Slope and Wyoming's coal-rich Powder River Basin reveals an insistence that 'good' energy systems also provide opportunities for dignified and well-paid blue-collar work. This imaginary, we argue, remains 'bounded' at a local scale rather than circulating more widely to gain national or international traction. Theorizing this boundedness illustrates not only the contested nature of sociotechnical imaginaries, but also the constraints that material assemblages and sediments of the past place on imagined futures.

A computational method for sharp interface advection

PubMed Central

Bredmose, Henrik; Jasak, Hrvoje

2016-01-01

We devise a numerical method for passive advection of a surface, such as the interface between two incompressible fluids, across a computational mesh. The method is called isoAdvector, and is developed for general meshes consisting of arbitrary polyhedral cells. The algorithm is based on the volume of fluid (VOF) idea of calculating the volume of one of the fluids transported across the mesh faces during a time step. The novelty of the isoAdvector concept consists of two parts. First, we exploit an isosurface concept for modelling the interface inside cells in a geometric surface reconstruction step. Second, from the reconstructed surface, we model the motion of the face–interface intersection line for a general polygonal face to obtain the time evolution within a time step of the submerged face area. Integrating this submerged area over the time step leads to an accurate estimate for the total volume of fluid transported across the face. The method was tested on simple two-dimensional and three-dimensional interface advection problems on both structured and unstructured meshes. The results are very satisfactory in terms of volume conservation, boundedness, surface sharpness and efficiency. The isoAdvector method was implemented as an OpenFOAM® extension and is published as open source. PMID:28018619

Adaptive Control via Neural Output Feedback for a Class of Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems in a Nested Interconnected Form.

PubMed

Li, Dong-Juan; Li, Da-Peng

2017-09-14

In this paper, an adaptive output feedback control is framed for uncertain nonlinear discrete-time systems. The considered systems are a class of multi-input multioutput nonaffine nonlinear systems, and they are in the nested lower triangular form. Furthermore, the unknown dead-zone inputs are nonlinearly embedded into the systems. These properties of the systems will make it very difficult and challenging to construct a stable controller. By introducing a new diffeomorphism coordinate transformation, the controlled system is first transformed into a state-output model. By introducing a group of new variables, an input-output model is finally obtained. Based on the transformed model, the implicit function theorem is used to determine the existence of the ideal controllers and the approximators are employed to approximate the ideal controllers. By using the mean value theorem, the nonaffine functions of systems can become an affine structure but nonaffine terms still exist. The adaptation auxiliary terms are skillfully designed to cancel the effect of the dead-zone input. Based on the Lyapunov difference theorem, the boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system can be ensured and the tracking errors are kept in a bounded compact set. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is checked by a simulation study.

Concussion Prevalence in Competitive Ultimate Frisbee Players

PubMed Central

Lazar, Damien J.; Lichtenstein, Jonathan D.; Tybor, David J.

2018-01-01

Background: Ultimate Frisbee (ultimate) is a fast-growing, popular sport played nationally by over 4 million athletes. While several studies have examined injury rates in ultimate, no work has investigated the prevalence of concussions specifically or players’ knowledge and management of those injuries. Purpose: To estimate the lifetime prevalence of concussions in ultimate and to assess players’ knowledge of concussions as well as their concussion management behaviors. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: From June to November 2015, we collected ultimate-related concussion data via an anonymous web-based survey, the Concussion in Ultimate Frisbee Survey, from a convenience sample of 787 male and female ultimate players across the United States. Results: There were 553 male and 234 female respondents included in the analysis; 26.58% of men and 24.79% of women reported that they had sustained at least 1 concussion while playing ultimate, with 45.58% and 43.10% of those men and women, respectively, reporting multiple concussions. A total of 67.81% of men and 78.21% of women stated that they would remove themselves from play after sustaining a given concussion, although 45.99% of men and 37.62% of women indicated that they had returned to play in the same game or practice. Conclusion: Our preliminary data suggest that concussions do commonly occur in competitive ultimate and that better education and management of concussions in ultimate athletes are needed. This study is an important first step in deepening our understanding of these issues. PMID:29552572

75 FR 60133 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-29

... Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or... the Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...: Title: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...

78 FR 69101 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee That Articles...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-18

... Activities: Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or... the Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee that Articles were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...: Title: Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee that Articles were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...

Fabrication of ultra-fine grained aluminium tubes by RTES technique

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

Jafarzadeh, H., E-mail: h.jafarzadeh@ut.ac.ir; Abrinia, K.

Recently, repetitive tube expansion and shrinking have been exploited as a means for producing ultra-fine grained and nano-crystalline microstructures for magnesium alloy tubes. This method includes two different half-cycles and was based on pressing a tubular part through an angular channel die with two shear zones. Since the aluminium alloys are the most widely used materials in industries, in this study, repetitive tube expansion and shrinking as a new severe plastic deformation technique was applied to commercially pure aluminium for fabricating ultra-fine grained aluminium tubes for the first time and the ability of this process in significant grain refinement ismore » determined even after single cycle. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to evaluate the microstructure of the repetitive tube expansion and shrinking processed materials and the examinations showed ultra-fine grains with the average grain size of 320 nm after one cycle of repetitive tube expansion and shrinking. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength increased notably by the factor of 2.17 and 1.27 respectively, after one cycle of repetitive tube expansion and shrinking, whereas the elongation to failure as well as the uniform elongation decreased. Furthermore, micro-hardness distribution through the part's section proposed the hardness increasing to ~ 55 HV from the initial value of ~ 28 HV after one cycle of repetitive tube expansion and shrinking. - Highlights: • RTES was introduced for fabricating the UFGed AA1050 tubes for the first time. • Nano-grained AA1050 tube was obtained by RTES process. • Grain size of ~ 320 nm was obtained after two half-cycles of RTES process. • Yield and ultimate strength increased by the factor of 2.17 and 1.27 respectively. • The microhardness increased to ~ 55 HV from the initial value of ~ 28 HV.« less

Effects of hypoxia and reoxygenation on the expression levels of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator, its inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 and the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor in human head and neck tumour cells.

PubMed

Sprague, Lisa D; Tomaso, Herbert; Mengele, Karin; Schilling, Daniela; Bayer, Christine; Stadler, Peter; Schmitt, Manfred; Molls, Michael

2007-05-01

One aim during oncological radiation therapy is to induce reoxygenation in hypoxic tumours in order to enhance radiosensitivity and ultimately increase cell death. In squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN), hypoxia is considered a pivotal physiological modulator for malignant progression, whereby the plasminogen activation system is involved in overlapping functions such as the shaping of the extracellular matrix, cell proliferation and signal transduction. Since little is known about reoxygenation and the plasminogen activation system in SCCHN, three human SCCHN cell lines (BHY, FaDu, and CAL27) and a non-transformed control cell line (VH7) were exposed to hypoxic (<0.5% O2) conditions for up to 72 h and subsequently reoxygenated for 24 h at normoxic conditions. The mRNA expression of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), the plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1) and the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) was assessed by means of real-time semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and the protein expression was determined by immunoenzymometric quantification (ELISA). Both hypoxia and reoxygenation induced statistically significant changes in uPA, PAI-1 and uPAR mRNA and protein levels in the various cell lines investigated, showing that oxygen tension is a strong modulator of the plasminogen activation system in vitro. However, no uniform correlation pattern was found between the mRNA and protein levels analysed over all three time-points (24, 48, and 72 h) and oxygen treatment variants (N, H, R) nor according to oxygen treatment conditions over all three time-points. Changes in oxygen tension could therefore be modulating the fragile balance between the various components of the plasminogen activation system in SSCHN ultimately leading to an increased tumour matrix disruption, alterations in cell invasiveness, and the dissemination of tumour cells to distant organs.

29 CFR 18.704 - Opinion on ultimate issue.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Opinion on ultimate issue. 18.704 Section 18.704 Labor... ultimate issue. Testimony in the form of an opinion or inference otherwise admissible is not objectionable because it embraces an ultimate issue to be decided by the judge as trier of fact. ...

26 CFR 48.6427-8 - Diesel fuel and kerosene; claims by ultimate purchasers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 16 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Diesel fuel and kerosene; claims by ultimate... kerosene; claims by ultimate purchasers. (a) Overview. This section provides rules under which ultimate purchasers of taxed diesel fuel and kerosene may claim the income tax credits or payments allowed by section...

26 CFR 48.6427-8 - Diesel fuel and kerosene; claims by ultimate purchasers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 16 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Diesel fuel and kerosene; claims by ultimate... kerosene; claims by ultimate purchasers. (a) Overview. This section provides rules under which ultimate purchasers of taxed diesel fuel and kerosene may claim the income tax credits or payments allowed by section...

26 CFR 48.6427-8 - Diesel fuel and kerosene; claims by ultimate purchasers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 16 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Diesel fuel and kerosene; claims by ultimate... kerosene; claims by ultimate purchasers. (a) Overview. This section provides rules under which ultimate purchasers of taxed diesel fuel and kerosene may claim the income tax credits or payments allowed by section...

26 CFR 48.6427-8 - Diesel fuel and kerosene; claims by ultimate purchasers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 16 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Diesel fuel and kerosene; claims by ultimate... kerosene; claims by ultimate purchasers. (a) Overview. This section provides rules under which ultimate purchasers of taxed diesel fuel and kerosene may claim the income tax credits or payments allowed by section...

Testing the molecular clock using mechanistic models of fossil preservation and molecular evolution

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Molecular sequence data provide information about relative times only, and fossil-based age constraints are the ultimate source of information about absolute times in molecular clock dating analyses. Thus, fossil calibrations are critical to molecular clock dating, but competing methods are difficult to evaluate empirically because the true evolutionary time scale is never known. Here, we combine mechanistic models of fossil preservation and sequence evolution in simulations to evaluate different approaches to constructing fossil calibrations and their impact on Bayesian molecular clock dating, and the relative impact of fossil versus molecular sampling. We show that divergence time estimation is impacted by the model of fossil preservation, sampling intensity and tree shape. The addition of sequence data may improve molecular clock estimates, but accuracy and precision is dominated by the quality of the fossil calibrations. Posterior means and medians are poor representatives of true divergence times; posterior intervals provide a much more accurate estimate of divergence times, though they may be wide and often do not have high coverage probability. Our results highlight the importance of increased fossil sampling and improved statistical approaches to generating calibrations, which should incorporate the non-uniform nature of ecological and temporal fossil species distributions. PMID:28637852

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

Hohn, M.E.; Patchen, D.G.; Heald, M.

Non-uniform composition and permeability of a reservoir, commonly referred to as reservoir heterogeneity, is recognized as a major factor in the efficient recovery of oil during primary production and enhanced recovery operations. Heterogeneities are present at various scales and are caused by various factors, including folding and faulting, fractures, diagenesis and depositional environments. Thus, a reservoir consists of a complex flow system, or series of flow systems, dependent on lithology, sandstone genesis, and structural and thermal history. Ultimately, however, fundamental flow units are controlled by the distribution and type of depositional environments. Reservoir heterogeneity is difficult to measure and predict,more » especially in more complex reservoirs such as fluvial-deltaic sandstones. The Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium (AONGRC), a partnership of Appalachian basin state geological surveys in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and West Virginia University, studied the Lower Mississippian Big Injun sandstone in West Virginia. The Big Injun research was multidisciplinary and designed to measure and map heterogeneity in existing fields and undrilled areas. The main goal was to develop an understanding of the reservoir sufficient to predict, in a given reservoir, optimum drilling locations versus high-risk locations for infill, outpost, or deeper-pool tests.« less

L∞-gain adaptive fuzzy fault accommodation control design for nonlinear time-delay systems.

PubMed

Wu, Huai-Ning; Qiang, Xiao-Hong; Guo, Lei

2011-06-01

In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy fault accommodation (FA) control design with a guaranteed L(∞)-gain performance is developed for a class of nonlinear time-delay systems with persistent bounded disturbances. Using the Lyapunov technique and the Razumikhin-type lemma, the existence condition of the L(∞) -gain adaptive fuzzy FA controllers is provided in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). In the proposed FA scheme, a fuzzy logic system is employed to approximate the unknown term in the derivative of the Lyapunov function due to the unknown fault function; a continuous-state feedback control strategy is adopted for the control design to avoid the undesirable chattering phenomenon. The resulting FA controllers can ensure that every response of the closed-loop system is uniformly ultimately bounded with a guaranteed L(∞)-gain performance in the presence of a fault. Moreover, by the existing LMI optimization technique, a suboptimal controller is obtained in the sense of minimizing an upper bound of the L(∞)-gain. Finally, the achieved simulation results on the FA control of a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) show the effectiveness of the proposed design procedure.

Beyond nutrition and agriculture policy: collaborating for a food policy.

PubMed

Stewart, Derek; Kennedy, Anne; Pavel, Anthony

2014-10-01

Global interest in food policy is emerging in parallel with mounting challenges to the food supply and the rising prevalence of diet-related chronic health conditions. Some of the foundational elements of food policies are agricultural practices, finite resources, as well as economic burdens associated with a growing and ageing population. At the intersection of these interests is the need for policy synchronisation and a better understanding of the dynamics within local, regional and national government decision-making that ultimately affect the wellness of the populous and the safety, quality, affordability and quantity of the food supply. Policies, synchronised or not, need to be implemented and, for the food industry, this has seen a myriad of approaches with respect to condensing complex nutritional information and health claims. These include front and/or back of pack labelling, traffic light systems, etc. but in general there is little uniformity at the more regional and global scales. This translation of the nutritional and health-beneficial messages accompanying specific products to the consumer will undoubtedly be an area of intense activity, and hopefully interaction with policy makers, as the food industry continues to become a more global industry.

Decentralized adaptive neural control for high-order interconnected stochastic nonlinear time-delay systems with unknown system dynamics.

PubMed

Si, Wenjie; Dong, Xunde; Yang, Feifei

2018-03-01

This paper is concerned with the problem of decentralized adaptive backstepping state-feedback control for uncertain high-order large-scale stochastic nonlinear time-delay systems. For the control design of high-order large-scale nonlinear systems, only one adaptive parameter is constructed to overcome the over-parameterization, and neural networks are employed to cope with the difficulties raised by completely unknown system dynamics and stochastic disturbances. And then, the appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and the property of hyperbolic tangent functions are used to deal with the unknown unmatched time-delay interactions of high-order large-scale systems for the first time. At last, on the basis of Lyapunov stability theory, the decentralized adaptive neural controller was developed, and it decreases the number of learning parameters. The actual controller can be designed so as to ensure that all the signals in the closed-loop system are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB) and the tracking error converges in the small neighborhood of zero. The simulation example is used to further show the validity of the design method. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detection and quantification of intraperitoneal fluid using electrical impedance tomography.

PubMed

Sadleir, R J; Fox, R A

2001-04-01

A prototype electrical impedance tomography system was evaluated prior to its use for the detection of intraperitoneal bleeding, with the assistance of patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The system was sensitive enough to detect small amounts of dialysis fluid appearing in subtractive images over short time periods. Uniform sensitivity to blood appearing anywhere within the abdominal cavity was produced using a post-reconstructive filter that corrected for changes in apparent resistivity of anomalies with their radial position. The image parameter used as an indication of fluid quantity, the resistivity index, varied approximately linearly with the quantity of fluid added. A test of the system's response to the introduction of conductive fluid out of the electrode plane (when a blood-equivalent fluid was added to the stomach) found that the sensitivity of the system was about half that observed in the electrode plane. Breathing artifacts were found to upset quantitative monitoring of intraperitoneal bleeding, but only on time scales short compared with the fluid administration rate. Longer term breathing changes, such as those due to variations in the functional residual capacity of the lungs, should ultimately limit the sensitivity over long time periods.

Helical waves in easy-plane antiferromagnets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semenov, Yuriy G.; Li, Xi-Lai; Xu, Xinyi; Kim, Ki Wook

2017-12-01

Effective spin torques can generate the Néel vector oscillations in antiferromagnets (AFMs). Here, it is theoretically shown that these torques applied at one end of a normal AFM strip can excite a helical type of spin wave in the strip whose properties are drastically different from characteristic spin waves. An analysis based on both a Néel vector dynamical equation and the micromagnetic simulation identifies the direction of magnetic anisotropy and the damping factor as the two key parameters determining the dynamics. Helical wave propagation requires the hard axis of the easy-plane AFM to be aligned with the traveling direction, while the damping limits its spatial extent. If the damping is neglected, the calculation leads to a uniform periodic domain wall structure. On the other hand, finite damping decelerates the helical wave rotation around the hard axis, ultimately causing stoppage of its propagation along the strip. With the group velocity staying close to spin-wave velocity at the wave front, the wavelength becomes correspondingly longer away from the excitation point. In a sufficiently short strip, a steady-state oscillation can be established whose frequency is controlled by the waveguide length as well as the excitation energy or torque.

Vertical Structure of Heat and Momentum Transport in the Urban Surface Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hrisko, J.; Ramamurthy, P.

2017-12-01

Vertical transport of heat and momentum during convective periods is investigated in the urban surface layer using eddy covariance measurements at 5 levels. The Obukhov length is used to divide the dataset into distinct stability regimes: weakly unstable, unstable and very unstable. Our preliminary analysis indicates critical differences in the transport of heat and momentum as the instability increases. Particularly, during periods of increased instability the vertical heat flux deviates from surface layer similarity theory. Further analysis of primary quadrant sweeps and ejections also indicate deviations from the theory, alluding that ejections dominate during convective periods for heat transport, but equally contribute with sweeps for momentum transport. The transport efficiencies of momentum at all 5 levels uniformly decreases as the instability increases, in stark contrast the heat transport efficiencies increase non-linearly as the instability increases. Collectively, these results demonstrate the breakdown of similarity theory during convective periods, and reaffirm that revised and improved methods for characterizing heat and momentum transport in urban areas is needed. These implications could ultimately advance weather prediction and estimation of scalar transport for urban areas susceptible to weather hazards and large amounts of pollution.

SLAP deficiency enhances number and function of regulatory T cells preventing chronic autoimmune arthritis in SKG mice.

PubMed

Peterson, Lisa K; Shaw, Laura A; Joetham, Anthony; Sakaguchi, Shimon; Gelfand, Erwin W; Dragone, Leonard L

2011-02-15

To test if manipulating TCR complex-mediated signaling (TCR signaling) could treat autoimmune disease, we generated the double SKG Src-like adapter protein (SLAP) knockout (DSSKO) mouse model. The SKG mutation in ZAP70 and SLAP have opposing functions on the regulation of TCR signaling. The combination of these two mutations alters TCR signaling in the context of a defined genetic background, uniform environmental conditions, and a well-characterized signaling disruption. In contrast to SKG mice, DSSKO mice do not develop zymosan-induced chronic autoimmune arthritis. This arthritis prevention is not due to significant alterations in thymocyte development or repertoire selection but instead enhanced numbers of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and decreased numbers of Th17 cells skewing the ratio of Tregs to autoreactive effector T cells. Treg depletion and/or functional blockade led to the development of arthritis in DSSKO mice. In vitro suppression of effector T cell proliferation was also enhanced, demonstrating that DSSKO mice have increased numbers of Tregs with increased function. Understanding how TCR signals influence development, expansion, and function of Tregs in DSSKO mice could advance our ability to manipulate Treg biology to treat ultimately autoimmune disease.

SLAP Deficiency Enhances Number and Function of Regulatory T Cells Preventing Chronic Autoimmune Arthritis in SKG Mice

PubMed Central

Peterson, Lisa K.; Shaw, Laura A.; Joetham, Anthony; Sakaguchi, Shimon; Gelfand, Erwin W.; Dragone, Leonard L.

2011-01-01

To test if manipulating TCR complex-mediated signaling (TCR signaling) could treat autoimmune disease, we generated the double SKG Src-like adapter protein (SLAP) knockout (DSSKO) mouse model. The SKG mutation in ZAP70 and SLAP have opposing functions on the regulation of TCR signaling. The combination of these two mutations alters TCR signaling in the context of a defined genetic background, uniform environmental conditions, and a well-characterized signaling disruption. In contrast to SKG mice, DSSKO mice do not develop zymosan-induced chronic autoimmune arthritis. This arthritis prevention is not due to significant alterations in thymocyte development or repertoire selection but instead enhanced numbers of regulatory T cells (Tregs) and decreased numbers of Th17 cells skewing the ratio of Tregs to autoreactive effector T cells. Treg depletion and/or functional blockade led to the development of arthritis in DSSKO mice. In vitro suppression of effector T cell proliferation was also enhanced, demonstrating that DSSKO mice have increased numbers of Tregs with increased function. Understanding how TCR signals influence development, expansion, and function of Tregs in DSSKO mice could advance our ability to manipulate Treg biology to treat ultimately autoimmune disease. PMID:21248251

Strong texturing of lithium metal in batteries

DOE PAGES

Shi, Feifei; Pei, Allen; Vailionis, Arturas; ...

2017-10-30

Lithium, with its high theoretical specific capacity and lowest electrochemical potential, has been recognized as the ultimate negative electrode material for next-generation lithium-based high-energy-density batteries. However, a key challenge that has yet to be overcome is the inferior reversibility of Li plating and stripping, typically thought to be related to the uncontrollable morphology evolution of the Li anode during cycling. Here we show that Li-metal texturing (preferential crystallographic orientation) occurs during electrochemical deposition, which governs the morphological change of the Li anode. X-ray diffraction pole-figure analysis demonstrates that the texture of Li deposits is primarily dependent on the type ofmore » additive or cross-over molecule from the cathode side. With adsorbed additives, like LiNO 3 and polysulfide, the lithium deposits are strongly textured, with Li (110) planes parallel to the substrate, and thus exhibit uniform, rounded morphology. A growth diagram of lithium deposits is given to connect various texture and morphology scenarios for different battery electrolytes. In conclusion, this understanding of lithium electrocrystallization from the crystallographic point of view provides significant insight for future lithium anode materials design in high-energy-density batteries.« less

Speckle interferometry of asteroids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Drummond, Jack

1988-01-01

By studying the image two-dimensional power spectra or autocorrelations projected by an asteroid as it rotates, it is possible to locate its rotational pole and derive its three axes dimensions through speckle interferometry under certain assumptions of uniform, geometric scattering, and triaxial ellipsoid shape. However, in cases where images can be reconstructed, the need for making the assumptions is obviated. Furthermore, the ultimate goal for speckle interferometry of image reconstruction will lead to mapping albedo features (if they exist) as impact areas or geological units. The first glimpses of the surface of an asteroid were obtained from images of 4 Vesta reconstructed from speckle interferometric observations. These images reveal that Vesta is quite Moon-like in having large hemispheric-scale albedo features. All of its lightcurves can be produced from a simple model developed from the images. Although undoubtedly more intricate than the model, Vesta's lightcurves can be matched by a model with three dark and four bright spots. The dark areas so dominate one hemisphere that a lightcurve minimum occurs when the maximum cross-section area is visible. The triaxial ellipsoid shape derived for Vesta is not consistent with the notion that the asteroid has an equilibrium shape in spite of its having apparently been differentiated.

An approach to the diagnosis of flat intraepithelial lesions of the urinary bladder using the World Health Organization/ International Society of Urological Pathology consensus classification system.

PubMed

Amin, Mahul B; McKenney, Jesse K

2002-07-01

The classification of flat urothelial (transitional cell) lesions with atypia has historically varied in its application from institution to institution with no fewer than six major nomenclature systems proposed in the past 25 years. In 1998, the World Health Organization/ International Society of Urological Pathology (WHO/ISUP) published a consensus classification that included the following categories for flat urinary bladder lesions: reactive atypia, atypia of unknown significance, dysplasia (low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia), and carcinoma in situ (high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia). This classification expands the definition traditionally used for urothelial carcinoma in situ, basing its diagnosis primarily on the severity of cytologic changes. In proposing the classification system for flat lesions of the bladder with atypia, it was hoped that consistent use of uniform diagnostic terminology would ultimately aid in a better understanding of the biology of these lesions. In this review, the authors discuss the history of the concept of flat urothelial neoplasia, the rationale and histologic criteria for the WHO/ISUP diagnostic categories, an approach to the diagnosis of flat lesions, and problems and pitfalls associated with their recognition in routine surgical pathology specimens.

Synchronization of coupled different chaotic FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons with unknown parameters under communication-direction-dependent coupling.

PubMed

Iqbal, Muhammad; Rehan, Muhammad; Khaliq, Abdul; Saeed-ur-Rehman; Hong, Keum-Shik

2014-01-01

This paper investigates the chaotic behavior and synchronization of two different coupled chaotic FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) neurons with unknown parameters under external electrical stimulation (EES). The coupled FHN neurons of different parameters admit unidirectional and bidirectional gap junctions in the medium between them. Dynamical properties, such as the increase in synchronization error as a consequence of the deviation of neuronal parameters for unlike neurons, the effect of difference in coupling strengths caused by the unidirectional gap junctions, and the impact of large time-delay due to separation of neurons, are studied in exploring the behavior of the coupled system. A novel integral-based nonlinear adaptive control scheme, to cope with the infeasibility of the recovery variable, for synchronization of two coupled delayed chaotic FHN neurons of different and unknown parameters under uncertain EES is derived. Further, to guarantee robust synchronization of different neurons against disturbances, the proposed control methodology is modified to achieve the uniformly ultimately bounded synchronization. The parametric estimation errors can be reduced by selecting suitable control parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is illustrated via numerical simulations.

Ligand-Asymmetric Janus Quantum Dots for Efficient Blue-Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes.

PubMed

Cho, Ikjun; Jung, Heeyoung; Jeong, Byeong Guk; Hahm, Donghyo; Chang, Jun Hyuk; Lee, Taesoo; Char, Kookheon; Lee, Doh C; Lim, Jaehoon; Lee, Changhee; Cho, Jinhan; Bae, Wan Ki

2018-06-19

We present ligand-asymmetric Janus quantum dots (QDs) to improve the device performance of quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs). Specifically, we devise blue QLEDs incorporating blue QDs with asymmetrically modified ligands, in which the bottom ligand of QDs in contact with ZnO electron-transport layer serves as a robust adhesive layer and an effective electron-blocking layer and the top ligand ensures uniform deposition of organic hole transport layers with enhanced hole injection properties. Suppressed electron overflow by the bottom ligand and stimulated hole injection enabled by the top ligand contribute synergistically to boost the balance of charge injection in blue QDs and therefore the device performance of blue QLEDs. As an ultimate achievement, the blue QLED adopting ligand-asymmetric QDs displays 2-fold enhancement in peak external quantum efficiency (EQE = 3.23%) compared to the case of QDs with native ligands (oleic acid) (peak EQE = 1.49%). The present study demonstrates an integrated strategy to control over the charge injection properties into QDs via ligand engineering that enables enhancement of the device performance of blue QLEDs and thus promises successful realization of white light-emitting devices using QDs.

The microstructure and tensile properties of nitrogen containing vacuum atomized Alloy 690

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

Fuchs, G.E.; Hayden, S.Z.

1991-02-01

The mechanical properties and microstructure of a heat of nitrogen containing vacuum atomized A690 have been characterized. Although wrought A690 exhibits extensive grain growth during solution annealing heat treatments, only limited grain growth was observed in P/M690N{sub 2}. The presence of the nitrogen in the P/M690N{sub 2} resulted in the formation of a fine dispersion of Ti(C,N) which limited grain growth during elevated temperature exposures. The yield and ultimate tensile strength of the P/M690N{sub 2} was significantly greater than wrought A690 and elevated temperature exposures did not greatly affect the properties of the P/M690N{sub 2}. Although the P/M690N{sub 2} didmore » exhibit appreciably higher strengths than wrought A690, the ductility was not adversely affected. In general, the resulting microstructure and, hence, mechanical properties of the P/M690N{sub 2} were very stable, uniform, and reproducible, even after long-term elevated temperature exposures of up to 24 hours at 1100{degree}C. 14 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.« less

Strengthening Effect of Extruded Mg-8Sn-2Zn-2Al Alloy: Influence of Micro and Nano-Size Mg2Sn Precipitates

PubMed Central

Cheng, Weili; Bai, Yang; Wang, Lifei; Wang, Hongxia; Bian, Liping; Yu, Hui

2017-01-01

In this study, Mg-8Sn-2Zn-2Al (TZA822) alloys with varying Mg2Sn contents prior to extrusion were obtained by different pre-treatments (without and with T4), and the strengthening response related to micro and nano-size Mg2Sn precipitates in the extruded TZA822 alloys was reported. The results showed that the morphology of nano-size Mg2Sn precipitates exhibits a significant change in basal plane from rod-like to spherical, owing to the decrement in the fraction of micro-size particles before extrusion. Meanwhile, the spherical Mg2Sn precipitates provided a much stronger strengthening effect than did the rod-like ones, which was ascribed to uniform dispersion and refinement of spherical precipitates to effectively hinder basal dislocation slip. As a consequence, the extruded TZA822 alloy with T4 showed a higher tensile yield strength (TYS) of 245 MPa, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 320 MPa and elongation (EL) of 26.5%, as well as a lower degree of yield asymmetry than their counterpart without T4. Detailed reasons for the strengthening effect were given and analyzed. PMID:28773180

Emergent dynamic structures and statistical law in spherical lattice gas automata.

PubMed

Yao, Zhenwei

2017-12-01

Various lattice gas automata have been proposed in the past decades to simulate physics and address a host of problems on collective dynamics arising in diverse fields. In this work, we employ the lattice gas model defined on the sphere to investigate the curvature-driven dynamic structures and analyze the statistical behaviors in equilibrium. Under the simple propagation and collision rules, we show that the uniform collective movement of the particles on the sphere is geometrically frustrated, leading to several nonequilibrium dynamic structures not found in the planar lattice, such as the emergent bubble and vortex structures. With the accumulation of the collision effect, the system ultimately reaches equilibrium in the sense that the distribution of the coarse-grained speed approaches the two-dimensional Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution despite the population fluctuations in the coarse-grained cells. The emergent regularity in the statistical behavior of the system is rationalized by mapping our system to a generalized random walk model. This work demonstrates the capability of the spherical lattice gas automaton in revealing the lattice-guided dynamic structures and simulating the equilibrium physics. It suggests the promising possibility of using lattice gas automata defined on various curved surfaces to explore geometrically driven nonequilibrium physics.

Strengthening Effect of Extruded Mg-8Sn-2Zn-2Al Alloy: Influence of Micro and Nano-Size Mg₂Sn Precipitates.

PubMed

Cheng, Weili; Bai, Yang; Wang, Lifei; Wang, Hongxia; Bian, Liping; Yu, Hui

2017-07-18

In this study, Mg-8Sn-2Zn-2Al (TZA822) alloys with varying Mg₂Sn contents prior to extrusion were obtained by different pre-treatments (without and with T4), and the strengthening response related to micro and nano-size Mg₂Sn precipitates in the extruded TZA822 alloys was reported. The results showed that the morphology of nano-size Mg₂Sn precipitates exhibits a significant change in basal plane from rod-like to spherical, owing to the decrement in the fraction of micro-size particles before extrusion. Meanwhile, the spherical Mg₂Sn precipitates provided a much stronger strengthening effect than did the rod-like ones, which was ascribed to uniform dispersion and refinement of spherical precipitates to effectively hinder basal dislocation slip. As a consequence, the extruded TZA822 alloy with T4 showed a higher tensile yield strength (TYS) of 245 MPa, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 320 MPa and elongation (EL) of 26.5%, as well as a lower degree of yield asymmetry than their counterpart without T4. Detailed reasons for the strengthening effect were given and analyzed.

Biodiversity in models of cyclic dominance is preserved by heterogeneity in site-specific invasion rates.

PubMed

Szolnoki, Attila; Perc, Matjaž

2016-12-05

Global, population-wide oscillations in models of cyclic dominance may result in the collapse of biodiversity due to the accidental extinction of one species in the loop. Previous research has shown that such oscillations can emerge if the interaction network has small-world properties, and more generally, because of long-range interactions among individuals or because of mobility. But although these features are all common in nature, global oscillations are rarely observed in actual biological systems. This begets the question what is the missing ingredient that would prevent local oscillations to synchronize across the population to form global oscillations. Here we show that, although heterogeneous species-specific invasion rates fail to have a noticeable impact on species coexistence, randomness in site-specific invasion rates successfully hinders the emergence of global oscillations and thus preserves biodiversity. Our model takes into account that the environment is often not uniform but rather spatially heterogeneous, which may influence the success of microscopic dynamics locally. This prevents the synchronization of locally emerging oscillations, and ultimately results in a phenomenon where one type of randomness is used to mitigate the adverse effects of other types of randomness in the system.

Tuberculous meningitis: a uniform case definition for use in clinical research.

PubMed

Marais, Suzaan; Thwaites, Guy; Schoeman, Johan F; Török, M Estée; Misra, Usha K; Prasad, Kameshwar; Donald, Peter R; Wilkinson, Robert J; Marais, Ben J

2010-11-01

Tuberculous meningitis causes substantial mortality and morbidity in children and adults. More research is urgently needed to better understand the pathogenesis of disease and to improve its clinical management and outcome. A major stumbling block is the absence of standardised diagnostic criteria. The different case definitions used in various studies makes comparison of research findings difficult, prevents the best use of existing data, and limits the management of disease. To address this problem, a 3-day tuberculous meningitis workshop took place in Cape Town, South Africa, and was attended by 41 international participants experienced in the research or management of tuberculous meningitis. During the meeting, diagnostic criteria were assessed and discussed, after which a writing committee was appointed to finalise a consensus case definition for tuberculous meningitis for use in future clinical research. We present the consensus case definition together with the rationale behind the recommendations. This case definition is applicable irrespective of the patient's age, HIV infection status, or the resources available in the research setting. Consistent use of the proposed case definition will aid comparison of studies, improve scientific communication, and ultimately improve care. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Strong texturing of lithium metal in batteries

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

Shi, Feifei; Pei, Allen; Vailionis, Arturas

Lithium, with its high theoretical specific capacity and lowest electrochemical potential, has been recognized as the ultimate negative electrode material for next-generation lithium-based high-energy-density batteries. However, a key challenge that has yet to be overcome is the inferior reversibility of Li plating and stripping, typically thought to be related to the uncontrollable morphology evolution of the Li anode during cycling. Here we show that Li-metal texturing (preferential crystallographic orientation) occurs during electrochemical deposition, which governs the morphological change of the Li anode. X-ray diffraction pole-figure analysis demonstrates that the texture of Li deposits is primarily dependent on the type ofmore » additive or cross-over molecule from the cathode side. With adsorbed additives, like LiNO 3 and polysulfide, the lithium deposits are strongly textured, with Li (110) planes parallel to the substrate, and thus exhibit uniform, rounded morphology. A growth diagram of lithium deposits is given to connect various texture and morphology scenarios for different battery electrolytes. In conclusion, this understanding of lithium electrocrystallization from the crystallographic point of view provides significant insight for future lithium anode materials design in high-energy-density batteries.« less

Electron Pitch Angle Distributions Along Field Lines Connected to the Auroral Region from 25 to 1.2 RJ Measured by the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment-Electrons (JADE-E) on Juno

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allegrini, F.; Bagenal, F.; Bolton, S. J.; Bonfond, B.; Chae, K.; Clark, G. B.; Connerney, J. E. P.; Ebert, R. W.; Gladstone, R.; Hue, V.; Hospodarsky, G. B.; Kim, T. K. H.; Kurth, W. S.; Levin, S.; Louarn, P.; Mauk, B.; McComas, D. J.; Pollock, C. J.; Ranquist, D. A.; Reno, M. L.; Saur, J.; Szalay, J.; Thomsen, M. F.; Valek, P. W.; Wilson, R. J.

2017-12-01

The Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) on Juno provides critical in situ measurements of electrons and ions needed to understand the plasma distributions and processes that fill the Jovian magnetosphere and ultimately produce Jupiter's bright and dynamic aurora. JADE is an instrument suite that includes two essentially identical electron sensors (JADE-Es) and a single ion sensor (JADE-I). JADE-E measures electron energy distributions from 0.1 to 100 keV and provides detailed electron pitch angle distributions (PAD) at 7.5° resolution. Juno's trajectories in the northern hemisphere have allowed JADE to sample electron energy and pitch angle distributions on field lines connected to the auroral regions from as close as 1.2 RJ all the way to distances greater than 25 RJ. Here, we report on the evolution of these distributions. Specifically, the PADs change from mostly uniform at distances greater than 20 RJ, to butterfly from 18 to 12 RJ, to field aligned or pancake, depending on the energy, closer to Jupiter. Below 1.5 RJ, electron beams and loss cones are observed.

Distributed Optimal Consensus Control for Multiagent Systems With Input Delay.

PubMed

Zhang, Huaipin; Yue, Dong; Zhao, Wei; Hu, Songlin; Dou, Chunxia; Huaipin Zhang; Dong Yue; Wei Zhao; Songlin Hu; Chunxia Dou; Hu, Songlin; Zhang, Huaipin; Dou, Chunxia; Yue, Dong; Zhao, Wei

2018-06-01

This paper addresses the problem of distributed optimal consensus control for a continuous-time heterogeneous linear multiagent system subject to time varying input delays. First, by discretization and model transformation, the continuous-time input-delayed system is converted into a discrete-time delay-free system. Two delicate performance index functions are defined for these two systems. It is shown that the performance index functions are equivalent and the optimal consensus control problem of the input-delayed system can be cast into that of the delay-free system. Second, by virtue of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equations, an optimal control policy for each agent is designed based on the delay-free system and a novel value iteration algorithm is proposed to learn the solutions to the HJB equations online. The proposed adaptive dynamic programming algorithm is implemented on the basis of a critic-action neural network (NN) structure. Third, it is proved that local consensus errors of the two systems and weight estimation errors of the critic-action NNs are uniformly ultimately bounded while the approximated control policies converge to their target values. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed method.

Event-Triggered Distributed Control of Nonlinear Interconnected Systems Using Online Reinforcement Learning With Exploration.

PubMed

Narayanan, Vignesh; Jagannathan, Sarangapani

2017-09-07

In this paper, a distributed control scheme for an interconnected system composed of uncertain input affine nonlinear subsystems with event triggered state feedback is presented by using a novel hybrid learning scheme-based approximate dynamic programming with online exploration. First, an approximate solution to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation is generated with event sampled neural network (NN) approximation and subsequently, a near optimal control policy for each subsystem is derived. Artificial NNs are utilized as function approximators to develop a suite of identifiers and learn the dynamics of each subsystem. The NN weight tuning rules for the identifier and event-triggering condition are derived using Lyapunov stability theory. Taking into account, the effects of NN approximation of system dynamics and boot-strapping, a novel NN weight update is presented to approximate the optimal value function. Finally, a novel strategy to incorporate exploration in online control framework, using identifiers, is introduced to reduce the overall cost at the expense of additional computations during the initial online learning phase. System states and the NN weight estimation errors are regulated and local uniformly ultimately bounded results are achieved. The analytical results are substantiated using simulation studies.

Learning-based adaptive prescribed performance control of postcapture space robot-target combination without inertia identifications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Caisheng; Luo, Jianjun; Dai, Honghua; Bian, Zilin; Yuan, Jianping

2018-05-01

In this paper, a novel learning-based adaptive attitude takeover control method is investigated for the postcapture space robot-target combination with guaranteed prescribed performance in the presence of unknown inertial properties and external disturbance. First, a new static prescribed performance controller is developed to guarantee that all the involved attitude tracking errors are uniformly ultimately bounded by quantitatively characterizing the transient and steady-state performance of the combination. Then, a learning-based supplementary adaptive strategy based on adaptive dynamic programming is introduced to improve the tracking performance of static controller in terms of robustness and adaptiveness only utilizing the input/output data of the combination. Compared with the existing works, the prominent advantage is that the unknown inertial properties are not required to identify in the development of learning-based adaptive control law, which dramatically decreases the complexity and difficulty of the relevant controller design. Moreover, the transient and steady-state performance is guaranteed a priori by designer-specialized performance functions without resorting to repeated regulations of the controller parameters. Finally, the three groups of illustrative examples are employed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control method.

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

Bosler, Peter

Stride Search provides a flexible tool for detecting storms or other extreme climate events in high-resolution climate data sets saved on uniform latitude-longitude grids in standard NetCDF format. Users provide the software a quantitative description of a meteorological event they are interested in; the software searches a data set for locations in space and time that meet the user’s description. In its first stage, Stride Search performs a spatial search of the data set at each timestep by dividing a search domain into circular sectors of constant geodesic radius. Data from a netCDF file is read into memory for eachmore » circular search sector. If the data meet or exceed a set of storm identification criteria (defined by the user), a storm is recorded to a linked list. Finally, the linked list is examined and duplicate detections of the same storm are removed and the results are written to an output file. The first stage’s output file is read by a second program that builds storm. Additional identification criteria may be applied at this stage to further classify storms. Storm tracks are the software’s ultimate output and routines are provided for formatting that output for various external software libraries for plotting and tabulating data.« less

Adaptive NN controller design for a class of nonlinear MIMO discrete-time systems.

PubMed

Liu, Yan-Jun; Tang, Li; Tong, Shaocheng; Chen, C L Philip

2015-05-01

An adaptive neural network tracking control is studied for a class of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) nonlinear systems. The studied systems are in discrete-time form and the discretized dead-zone inputs are considered. In addition, the studied MIMO systems are composed of N subsystems, and each subsystem contains unknown functions and external disturbance. Due to the complicated framework of the discrete-time systems, the existence of the dead zone and the noncausal problem in discrete-time, it brings about difficulties for controlling such a class of systems. To overcome the noncausal problem, by defining the coordinate transformations, the studied systems are transformed into a special form, which is suitable for the backstepping design. The radial basis functions NNs are utilized to approximate the unknown functions of the systems. The adaptation laws and the controllers are designed based on the transformed systems. By using the Lyapunov method, it is proved that the closed-loop system is stable in the sense that the semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded of all the signals and the tracking errors converge to a bounded compact set. The simulation examples and the comparisons with previous approaches are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm.

Emergent dynamic structures and statistical law in spherical lattice gas automata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Zhenwei

2017-12-01

Various lattice gas automata have been proposed in the past decades to simulate physics and address a host of problems on collective dynamics arising in diverse fields. In this work, we employ the lattice gas model defined on the sphere to investigate the curvature-driven dynamic structures and analyze the statistical behaviors in equilibrium. Under the simple propagation and collision rules, we show that the uniform collective movement of the particles on the sphere is geometrically frustrated, leading to several nonequilibrium dynamic structures not found in the planar lattice, such as the emergent bubble and vortex structures. With the accumulation of the collision effect, the system ultimately reaches equilibrium in the sense that the distribution of the coarse-grained speed approaches the two-dimensional Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution despite the population fluctuations in the coarse-grained cells. The emergent regularity in the statistical behavior of the system is rationalized by mapping our system to a generalized random walk model. This work demonstrates the capability of the spherical lattice gas automaton in revealing the lattice-guided dynamic structures and simulating the equilibrium physics. It suggests the promising possibility of using lattice gas automata defined on various curved surfaces to explore geometrically driven nonequilibrium physics.

Fabrication and Characterization of Electrospun PCL-MgO-Keratin-Based Composite Nanofibers for Biomedical Applications

PubMed Central

Boakye, Maame A. D.; Rijal, Nava P.; Adhikari, Udhab; Bhattarai, Narayan

2015-01-01

Polymeric nanofibers are of great interest in biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering, drug delivery and wound healing, due to their ability to mimic and restore the function of natural extracellular matrix (ECM) found in tissues. Electrospinning has been heavily used to fabricate nanofibers because of its reliability and effectiveness. In our research, we fabricated poly(ε-caprolactone)-(PCL), magnesium oxide-(MgO) and keratin (K)-based composite nanofibers by electrospinning a blend solution of PCL, MgO and/or K. The electrospun nanofibers were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), mechanical tensile testing and inductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Nanofibers with diameters in the range of 0.2–2.2 µm were produced by using different ratios of PCL/MgO and PCL-K/MgO. These fibers showed a uniform morphology with suitable mechanical properties; ultimate tensile strength up to 3 MPa and Young’s modulus 10 MPa. The structural integrity of nanofiber mats was retained in aqueous and phosphate buffer saline (PBS) medium. This study provides a new composite material with structural and material properties suitable for potential application in tissue engineering. PMID:28793426

Life-table methods for detecting age-risk factor interactions in long-term follow-up studies.

PubMed

Logue, E E; Wing, S

1986-01-01

Methodological investigation has suggested that age-risk factor interactions should be more evident in age of experience life tables than in follow-up time tables due to the mixing of ages of experience over follow-up time in groups defined by age at initial examination. To illustrate the two approaches, age modification of the effect of total cholesterol on ischemic heart disease mortality in two long-term follow-up studies was investigated. Follow-up time life table analysis of 116 deaths over 20 years in one study was more consistent with a uniform relative risk due to cholesterol, while age of experience life table analysis was more consistent with a monotonic negative age interaction. In a second follow-up study (160 deaths over 24 years), there was no evidence of a monotonic negative age-cholesterol interaction by either method. It was concluded that age-specific life table analysis should be used when age-risk factor interactions are considered, but that both approaches yield almost identical results in absence of age interaction. The identification of the more appropriate life-table analysis should be ultimately guided by the nature of the age or time phenomena of scientific interest.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Potential Effects on Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Boninger, Joseph W.; Gans, Bruce M.; Chan, Leighton

2012-01-01

The objective was to review pertinent areas of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to determine the PPACA’s impact on physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R). The law, and related newspaper and magazine articles, was reviewed. The ways in which provisions in the PPACA are being implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other government organizations were investigated. Additionally, recent court rulings on the PPACA were analyzed to assess the law’s chances of successful implementation. The PPACA contains a variety of reforms that, if implemented, will significantly impact the field of PM&R. Many PPACA reforms change how rehabilitative care is delivered by integrating different levels of care and creating uniform quality metrics to assess quality and efficiency. These quality metrics will ultimately be tied to new, performance-based payment systems. While the law contains ambitious initiatives that may, if unsuccessful or incorrectly implemented, negatively impact PM&R, it also has the potential to greatly improve the quality and efficiency of rehabilitative care. A proactive approach to the changes the PPACA will bring about is essential for the health of the field. PMID:22459177

Neural-Network-Based Robust Optimal Tracking Control for MIMO Discrete-Time Systems With Unknown Uncertainty Using Adaptive Critic Design.

PubMed

Liu, Lei; Wang, Zhanshan; Zhang, Huaguang

2018-04-01

This paper is concerned with the robust optimal tracking control strategy for a class of nonlinear multi-input multi-output discrete-time systems with unknown uncertainty via adaptive critic design (ACD) scheme. The main purpose is to establish an adaptive actor-critic control method, so that the cost function in the procedure of dealing with uncertainty is minimum and the closed-loop system is stable. Based on the neural network approximator, an action network is applied to generate the optimal control signal and a critic network is used to approximate the cost function, respectively. In contrast to the previous methods, the main features of this paper are: 1) the ACD scheme is integrated into the controllers to cope with the uncertainty and 2) a novel cost function, which is not in quadric form, is proposed so that the total cost in the design procedure is reduced. It is proved that the optimal control signals and the tracking errors are uniformly ultimately bounded even when the uncertainty exists. Finally, a numerical simulation is developed to show the effectiveness of the present approach.

Graduated Sovereignty and Global Governance Gaps: Special Economic Zones and the Illicit Trade In Tobacco Products

PubMed Central

Holden, Chris

2017-01-01

Illicit trade in tobacco products has been a significant problem globally for many years. It allows cigarettes to be sold far below their legal price and thus contributes to higher consumption, morbidity and mortality, and deprives state treasuries of a substantial amount of revenue. This article identifies special economic zones (SEZs), particularly free trade zones, as a key conduit for this illicit trade. The development of SEZs as weak points in the global governance architecture is explained with reference to the concept of ‘graduated sovereignty’, whereby the uniform management of territory by modern states has given way to a more spatially selective form of territorial governance, in which some slices of territory are more fully integrated into the world economy than others via various forms of differential regulation. Attempts to comprehensively (re)regulate SEZs, in the face of growing evidence of the dysfunctionalities that they can engender, have so far been unsuccessful. It is concluded that the neo-liberal global economy has facilitated a regulatory ‘race to the bottom’, a problem that can only ultimately be overcome by international negotiation and agreement. PMID:28674465

Graphene Coating via Chemical Vapor Deposition for Improving Friction and Wear of Gray Cast Iron at Interfaces.

PubMed

Tripathi, Khagendra; Gyawali, Gobinda; Lee, Soo Wohn

2017-09-20

This study reports the influence of CVD-graphene on the tribological performance of gray cast iron (GCI) from the internal combustion engine (ICE) cylinder liners by performing a ball-on-disk friction tests. The graphene-coated specimen exhibited a significant reduction (∼53%) of friction as compared to that of the uncoated specimen, whereas wear resistance increased by 2- and 5-fold regarding the wear of specimen and ball, respectively. Extremely low shear strength and highly lubricating nature of graphene contribute to the formation of a lubricative film between the sliding surfaces and decreases the interaction between surfaces in the dry environment. Under the applied load, a uniform film of iron oxides such as Fe 2 O 3 , Fe 3 O 4 , and FeOOH is found to be formed between the surfaces. It is proposed that the graphene encapsulation with the metal debris and oxides formed between the specimens increases the lubricity and decreases the shear force. The transformation of graphene/graphite into nanocrystalline graphites across the contact interfaces following the amorphization trajectory further increases the lubricity of the film that ultimately reduces friction and wear of the material.

The Geropathology Research Network: An Interdisciplinary Approach for Integrating Pathology Into Research on Aging

PubMed Central

Ikeno, Yuji; Niedernhofer, Laura; McIndoe, Richard A.; Ciol, Marcia A.; Ritchey, Jerry; Liggitt, Denny

2016-01-01

Geropathology is the study of aging and age-related lesions and diseases in the form of whole necropsies/autopsies, surgical biopsies, histology, and molecular biomarkers. It encompasses multiple subspecialties of geriatrics, anatomic pathology, molecular pathology, clinical pathology, and gerontology. In order to increase the consistency and scope of communication in the histologic and molecular pathology assessment of tissues from preclinical and clinical aging studies, a Geropathology Research Network has been established consisting of pathologists and scientists with expertise in the comparative pathology of aging, the design of aging research studies, biostatistical methods for analysis of aging data, and bioinformatics for compiling and annotating large sets of data generated from aging studies. The network provides an environment to promote learning and exchange of scientific information and ideas for the aging research community through a series of symposia, the development of uniform ways of integrating pathology into aging studies, and the statistical analysis of pathology data. The efforts of the network are ultimately expected to lead to a refined set of sentinel biomarkers of molecular and anatomic pathology that could be incorporated into preclinical and clinical aging intervention studies to increase the relevance and productivity of these types of investigations. PMID:26243216

ZEP520A cold-development technique and tool for ultimate resolution to fabricate 1Xnm bit pattern EB master mold for nano-imprinting lithography for HDD/BPM development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, Hideo; Iyama, Hiromasa

2012-06-01

Poor solvent developers are effective for resolution enhancement on a polymer-type EB resist such as ZEP520A. Another way is to utilize "cold-development" technique which was accomplished by a dip-development technique usually. We then designed and successfully built a single-wafer spin-development tool for the cold-development down to -10degC in order to dissolve difficulties of the dip-development. The cold-development certainly helped improve ZEP520A resolution and hole CD size uniformity, and achieved 35nm pitch BPM patterns with the standard developer ZED-N50, but not 25nm pitch yet. By employing a poor solvent mixture of iso-Propyl Alcohol (IPA) and Fluoro-Carbon (FC), 25nm pitch BPM patterns were accomplished. However, the cold-development showed almost no improvement on the IPA/FC mixture developer solvent. This paper describes cold-development technique and a tool, as well as its results, for ZEP520A resolution enhancement to fabricate 1Xnm bits (holes) for EB master-mold for Nano-Imprinting Lithography for 1Tbit/inch2 and 25nm pitch Bit Patterned Media development.

Distributed cooperative H∞ optimal tracking control of MIMO nonlinear multi-agent systems in strict-feedback form via adaptive dynamic programming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luy, N. T.

2018-04-01

The design of distributed cooperative H∞ optimal controllers for multi-agent systems is a major challenge when the agents' models are uncertain multi-input and multi-output nonlinear systems in strict-feedback form in the presence of external disturbances. In this paper, first, the distributed cooperative H∞ optimal tracking problem is transformed into controlling the cooperative tracking error dynamics in affine form. Second, control schemes and online algorithms are proposed via adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) and the theory of zero-sum differential graphical games. The schemes use only one neural network (NN) for each agent instead of three from ADP to reduce computational complexity as well as avoid choosing initial NN weights for stabilising controllers. It is shown that despite not using knowledge of cooperative internal dynamics, the proposed algorithms not only approximate values to Nash equilibrium but also guarantee all signals, such as the NN weight approximation errors and the cooperative tracking errors in the closed-loop system, to be uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is shown by simulation results of an application to wheeled mobile multi-robot systems.

Biodiversity in models of cyclic dominance is preserved by heterogeneity in site-specific invasion rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szolnoki, Attila; Perc, Matjaž

2016-12-01

Global, population-wide oscillations in models of cyclic dominance may result in the collapse of biodiversity due to the accidental extinction of one species in the loop. Previous research has shown that such oscillations can emerge if the interaction network has small-world properties, and more generally, because of long-range interactions among individuals or because of mobility. But although these features are all common in nature, global oscillations are rarely observed in actual biological systems. This begets the question what is the missing ingredient that would prevent local oscillations to synchronize across the population to form global oscillations. Here we show that, although heterogeneous species-specific invasion rates fail to have a noticeable impact on species coexistence, randomness in site-specific invasion rates successfully hinders the emergence of global oscillations and thus preserves biodiversity. Our model takes into account that the environment is often not uniform but rather spatially heterogeneous, which may influence the success of microscopic dynamics locally. This prevents the synchronization of locally emerging oscillations, and ultimately results in a phenomenon where one type of randomness is used to mitigate the adverse effects of other types of randomness in the system.

Reevaluation of Stratospheric Ozone Trends From SAGE II Data Using a Simultaneous Temporal and Spatial Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Damadeo, R. P.; Zawodny, J. M.; Thomason, L. W.

2014-01-01

This paper details a new method of regression for sparsely sampled data sets for use with time-series analysis, in particular the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II ozone data set. Non-uniform spatial, temporal, and diurnal sampling present in the data set result in biased values for the long-term trend if not accounted for. This new method is performed close to the native resolution of measurements and is a simultaneous temporal and spatial analysis that accounts for potential diurnal ozone variation. Results show biases, introduced by the way data is prepared for use with traditional methods, can be as high as 10%. Derived long-term changes show declines in ozone similar to other studies but very different trends in the presumed recovery period, with differences up to 2% per decade. The regression model allows for a variable turnaround time and reveals a hemispheric asymmetry in derived trends in the middle to upper stratosphere. Similar methodology is also applied to SAGE II aerosol optical depth data to create a new volcanic proxy that covers the SAGE II mission period. Ultimately this technique may be extensible towards the inclusion of multiple data sets without the need for homogenization.

Failure statistics for commercial lithium ion batteries: A study of 24 pouch cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, Stephen J.; Harris, David J.; Li, Chen

2017-02-01

There are relatively few publications that assess capacity decline in enough commercial cells to quantify cell-to-cell variation, but those that do show a surprisingly wide variability. Capacity curves cross each other often, a challenge for efforts to measure the state of health and predict the remaining useful life (RUL) of individual cells. We analyze capacity fade statistics for 24 commercial pouch cells, providing an estimate for the time to 5% failure. Our data indicate that RUL predictions based on remaining capacity or internal resistance are accurate only once the cells have already sorted themselves into "better" and "worse" ones. Analysis of our failure data, using maximum likelihood techniques, provide uniformly good fits for a variety of definitions of failure with normal and with 2- and 3-parameter Weibull probability density functions, but we argue against using a 3-parameter Weibull function for our data. pdf fitting parameters appear to converge after about 15 failures, although business objectives should ultimately determine whether data from a given number of batteries provides sufficient confidence to end lifecycle testing. Increased efforts to make batteries with more consistent lifetimes should lead to improvements in battery cost and safety.

Family Life and Social Medicine: Discourses and Discontents Surrounding Puebla's Psychiatric Care.

PubMed

Hale, Kathryn Law

2017-12-01

Drawing on clinical data from 15 months of on-site participant observation in the only public psychiatric hospital in the state of Puebla, Mexico, this article advances our understanding of globalization in relation to psychiatry. I challenge the construction of psychiatry as only treating the individual patient and provide grounded doctor-patient-family member interaction in a Mexican psychiatric clinic in order to review what happens when doctors cannot interact with patients as atomized individuals even though in theory they are trained to think of patients that way. Challenged by severe structural constraints and bolstered by lessons from other nations' efforts at deinstitutionalization, psychiatrists in Puebla push to keep patients out of the inpatient wards and in their respective communities. To this end, psychiatrists call upon co-present kin who are identified both as the customer and part of the caretaking system outside the clinic. This modification to the visit structure changes the dynamic and content of clinical visits while doctors seamlessly respond to unspoken beliefs and values that are central to local life, ultimately showing that efforts to define a "global psychiatry" informed by global policy will fail because it cannot exist in a uniform way-interpersonal interaction and personal experience matters.

Droplet-based microfluidic system to form and separate multicellular spheroids using magnetic nanoparticles.

PubMed

Yoon, Sungjun; Kim, Jeong Ah; Lee, Seung Hwan; Kim, Minsoo; Park, Tai Hyun

2013-04-21

The importance of creating a three-dimensional (3-D) multicellular spheroid has recently been gaining attention due to the limitations of monolayer cell culture to precisely mimic in vivo structure and cellular interactions. Due to this emerging interest, researchers have utilized new tools, such as microfluidic devices, that allow high-throughput and precise size control to produce multicellular spheroids. We have developed a droplet-based microfluidic system that can encapsulate both cells and magnetic nanoparticles within alginate beads to mimic the function of a multicellular tumor spheroid. Cells were entrapped within the alginate beads along with magnetic nanoparticles, and the beads of a relatively uniform size (diameters of 85% of the beads were 170-190 μm) were formed in the oil phase. These beads were passed through parallel streamlines of oil and culture medium, where the beads were magnetically transferred into the medium phase from the oil phase using an external magnetic force. This microfluidic chip eliminates additional steps for collecting the spheroids from the oil phase and transferring them to culture medium. Ultimately, the overall spheroid formation process can be achieved on a single microchip.

Isospectrals of non-uniform Rayleigh beams with respect to their uniform counterparts

PubMed Central

Ganguli, Ranjan

2018-01-01

In this paper, we look for non-uniform Rayleigh beams isospectral to a given uniform Rayleigh beam. Isospectral systems are those that have the same spectral properties, i.e. the same free vibration natural frequencies for a given boundary condition. A transformation is proposed that converts the fourth-order governing differential equation of non-uniform Rayleigh beam into a uniform Rayleigh beam. If the coefficients of the transformed equation match with those of the uniform beam equation, then the non-uniform beam is isospectral to the given uniform beam. The boundary-condition configuration should be preserved under this transformation. We present the constraints under which the boundary configurations will remain unchanged. Frequency equivalence of the non-uniform beams and the uniform beam is confirmed by the finite-element method. For the considered cases, examples of beams having a rectangular cross section are presented to show the application of our analysis. PMID:29515879

7 CFR 1006.61 - Computation of uniform prices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., the market administrator shall compute a uniform butterfat price, a uniform skim milk price, and a... section. (b) Uniform skim milk price. The uniform skim milk price per hundredweight, rounded to the... paragraph (a) of this section times 3.5 pounds of butterfat; and (2) Multiply the uniform skim milk price...

7 CFR 1007.61 - Computation of uniform prices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., the market administrator shall compute a uniform butterfat price, a uniform skim milk price, and a... section. (b) Uniform skim milk price. The uniform skim milk price per hundredweight, rounded to the... paragraph (a) of this section times 3.5 pounds of butterfat; and (2) Multiply the uniform skim milk price...

7 CFR 1131.61 - Computation of uniform prices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., the market administrator shall compute a uniform butterfat price, a uniform skim milk price, and a... section. (b) Uniform skim milk price. The uniform skim milk price per hundredweight, rounded to the... paragraph (a) of this section times 3.5 pounds of butterfat; and (2) Multiply the uniform skim milk price...

Existing data sources for clinical epidemiology: Scandinavian Cohort for osteonecrosis of the jaw – work in progress and challenges

PubMed Central

Schiodt, Morten; Larsson Wexell, Cecilia; Herlofson, Bente Brokstad; Giltvedt, Karen Marie; Norholt, Sven Erik; Ehrenstein, Vera

2015-01-01

Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) is a severe side effect associated with antiresorptive treatment. Monitoring of ONJ using routine databases in Scandinavian countries is a challenge owing to lack of valid algorithms and to heterogeneous referral practices. The aim of this paper is to describe the process of establishing a Scandinavian ONJ Cohort enrolling all ONJ cases related to antiresorptive treatment arising in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden between 2011 and 2019. The initial purpose of the cohort is to support an ongoing pharmacovigilance study of denosumab and zoledronic acid in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The three countries, with their 199 clinics, departments, and units of oral and maxillofacial surgery, both hospital-based and freestanding, differ somewhat in referral practices of the ONJ patients. By directly contacting all providers of care to ONJ patients in the three countries, we established a network for reporting incident cases to each country’s research database directly or through a member of the Scandinavian ONJ task force as a liaison. The task force includes a Scandinavian coordinator and three national coordinators collaborating directly with the clinics. A uniform ONJ registration form has been developed, and the relevant medical community has been informed either directly or through presentations at professional meetings. A website with study information is published in each country, and data entry is ongoing. This large-scale systematic uniform registration of ONJ cases in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, with an underlying total population of more than 20 million people, merged into the Scandinavian ONJ Cohort, will contribute to better knowledge and understanding of this challenging group of patients, and ultimately, help improve patient care. The Scandinavian ONJ Cohort as a whole and its component national ONJ research databases may offer the potential for large-scale multinational intervention and safety studies in the future. PMID:25657594

Agro-economic impact of cattle cloning.

PubMed

Faber, D C; Ferre, L B; Metzger, J; Robl, J M; Kasinathan, P

2004-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to review the economic and social implications of cloned cattle, their products, and their offspring as related to production agriculture. Cloning technology in cattle has several applications outside of traditional production agriculture. These applications can include bio-medical applications, such as the production of pharmaceuticals in the blood or milk of transgenic cattle. Cloning may also be useful in the production of research models. These models may or may not include genetic modifications. Uses in agriculture include many applications of the technology. These include making genetic copies of elite seed stock and prize winning show cattle. Other purposes may range from "insurance" to making copies of cattle that have sentimental value, similar to cloning of pets. Increased selection opportunities available with cloning may provide for improvement in genetic gain. The ultimate goal of cloning has often been envisioned as a system for producing quantity and uniformity of the perfect dairy cow. However, only if heritability were 100%, would clone mates have complete uniformity. Changes in the environment may have significant impact on the productivity and longevity of the resulting clones. Changes in consumer preferences and economic input costs may all change the definition of the perfect cow. The cost of producing such animals via cloning must be economically feasible to meet the intended applications. Present inefficiencies limit cloning opportunities to highly valued animals. Improvements are necessary to move the applications toward commercial application. Cloning has additional obstacles to conquer. Social and regulatory acceptance of cloning is paramount to its utilization in production agriculture. Regulatory acceptance will need to address the animal, its products, and its offspring. In summary, cloning is another tool in the animal biotechnology toolbox, which includes artificial insemination, sexing of semen, embryo sexing and in vitro fertilization. While it will not replace any of the above mentioned, its degree of utilization will depend on both improvement in efficiency as well as social and regulatory acceptance.

Retinal profile and structural differences between myopes and emmetropes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, Christopher Anderson

Refractive development has been shown to be influenced by optical defocus in the eye and the interpretation of this signal appears to be localized in the retina. Optical defocus is not uniform across the retina and has been suggested as a potential cause of myopia development. Specifically hyperopic focus, i.e. focusing light behind the retina, may signal the eye to elongate, causing myopia. This non-uniform hyperopic signal appears to be due to the retinal shape. Ultimately, these signals are detected by the retina in an as yet undetermined manner. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the retinal profile using a novel method developed at Indiana University and then to examine retinal structural changes across the retina associated with myopia. Myopes exhibited more prolate retinas than hyperopes/emmetropes using the SD OCT. Using the SD OCT, this profile difference was detectable starting at 5 degrees from the fovea, which was closer than previously reported in the literature. These results agreed significantly with results found from peripheral refraction and peripheral axial length at 10 degrees. Overall, the total retina was thinner for myopes than hyperopes/emmetropes. It was also statistically significantly thinner for the Outer Nuclear Layer (ONL), Inner Nuclear Layer (INL) and Outer Plexiform Layer (OPL) but not for other retinal layers such as the Ganglion Layer. Thinning generally occurred outside of 5 degrees. The SD OCT method provided a nearly 10 fold increase in sensitivity which allowed for detection of profile changes closer to the fovea. The location of the retinal changes may be interesting as the layers that showed significant differences in thickness are also layers that contain cells believed to be associated with refractive development (amacrine, bipolar, and photoreceptor cells.) The reason for the retinal changes cannot be determined with this study, but possible theories include stretch due to axial elongation, neural remodeling due to blur, and/or direct influence on refractive development due to neural cell densities.

Long-term decay and possible reactivation of induced seismicity at the Basel EGS site

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraft, Toni; Herrmann, Marcus; Karvounis, Dimitrios; Tormann, Thessa; Deichmann, Nicolas; Wiemer, Stefan

2016-04-01

In December 2006, an extensive fluid injection was carried out below the city of Basel, Switzerland, to stimulate a reservoir for an Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS). After six days of gradual increase of flow rate (and thus seismicity), a strongly felt ML3.4 earthquakes led to the immediate termination of the project. The well was opened subsequently and seismicity declined rapidly. The Basel EGS project might be an unsuccessful attempt in terms of energy supply, but a chance to advance the physical understanding of EGSs. The well-monitored and well-studied induced sequence allowed many new insights in terms of reservoir creation. A special observation in the nine years of monitoring is the revive of seismic activity six years after prolonged seismic decay. This renewed activity increase might relate to a gradual pressure increase due to the ultimate shut-in (closure) of the borehole about one year before. Until now, a detailed analysis of the long-term behaviour remained unexplored since a consistent catalogue did not exist. In the current study, we took advantage of the high waveform similarity within a seismic sequence and applied a multi-trace template-matching (i.e. cross-correlation) procedure to detect seismic events about one order of magnitude below the detection threshold. We detected about 100,000 events within the six-day long stimulation alone - previously, only 13,000 microearthquakes were detected. We only scanned the recordings of the deepest borehole station (2.7km). This station is very close to the 5km-deep reservoir and has the highest signal-to-noise ratio among all (borehole-)stations. Our newly obtained catalogue spans over more than nine years and features a uniform (and low) detection threshold and a uniform magnitude determination. The improved resolution of the long-term behaviour and the later seismicity increase will help to understand involved mechanisms better. More induced or natural sequences can be investigated with our procedure.

The Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC): Deep Near-Infrared Imaging and the Selection of Distant Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quadri, Ryan; Marchesini, Danilo; van Dokkum, Pieter; Gawiser, Eric; Franx, Marijn; Lira, Paulina; Rudnick, Gregory; Urry, C. Megan; Maza, José; Kriek, Mariska; Barrientos, L. Felipe; Blanc, Guillermo A.; Castander, Francisco J.; Christlein, Daniel; Coppi, Paolo S.; Hall, Patrick B.; Herrera, David; Infante, Leopoldo; Taylor, Edward N.; Treister, Ezequiel; Willis, Jon P.

2007-09-01

We present deep near-infrared JHK imaging of four 10' × 10' fields. The observations were carried out as part of the Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC) with ISPI on the CTIO 4 m telescope. The typical point-source limiting depths are J ~ 22.5, H ~ 21.5, and K ~ 21 (5 σ Vega). The effective seeing in the final images is ~1.0″. We combine these data with MUSYC UBVRIz imaging to create K-selected catalogs that are unique for their uniform size, depth, filter coverage, and image quality. We investigate the rest-frame optical colors and photometric redshifts of galaxies that are selected using common color selection techniques, including distant red galaxies (DRGs), star-forming and passive BzKs, and the rest-frame UV-selected BM, BX, and Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). These techniques are effective at isolating large samples of high-redshift galaxies, but none provide complete or uniform samples across the targeted redshift ranges. The DRG and BM/BX/LBG criteria identify populations of red and blue galaxies, respectively, as they were designed to do. The star-forming BzKs have a very wide redshift distribution, extending down to z ~ 1, a wide range of colors, and may include galaxies with very low specific star formation rates. In comparison, the passive BzKs are fewer in number, have a different distribution of K magnitudes, and have a somewhat different redshift distribution. By combining either the DRG and BM/BX/LBG criteria, or the star-forming and passive BzK criteria, it appears possible to define a reasonably complete sample of galaxies to our flux limit over specific redshift ranges. However, the redshift dependence of both the completeness and sampled range of rest-frame colors poses an ultimate limit to the usefulness of these techniques.

SU-F-T-226: QA Management for a Large Institution with Multiple Campuses for FMEA

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

Tang, G; Chan, M; Lovelock, D

2016-06-15

Purpose: To redesign our radiation therapy QA program with the goal to improve quality, efficiency, and consistency among a growing number of campuses at a large institution. Methods: A QA committee was established with at least one physicist representing each of our six campuses (22 linacs). Weekly meetings were scheduled to advise on and update current procedures, to review end-to-end and other test results, and to prepare composite reports for internal and external audits. QA procedures for treatment and imaging equipment were derived from TG Reports 142 and 66, practice guidelines, and feedback from ACR evaluations. The committee focused onmore » reaching a consensus on a single QA program among all campuses using the same type of equipment and reference data. Since the recommendations for tolerances referenced to baseline data were subject to interpretation in some instances, the committee reviewed the characteristics of all machines and quantified any variations before choosing between treatment planning system (i.e. treatment planning system commissioning data that is representative for all machines) or machine-specific values (i.e. commissioning data of the individual machines) as baseline data. Results: The configured QA program will be followed strictly by all campuses. Inventory of available equipment has been compiled, and additional equipment acquisitions for the QA program are made as needed. Dosimetric characteristics are evaluated for all machines using the same methods to ensure consistency of beam data where possible. In most cases, baseline data refer to treatment planning system commissioning data but machine-specific values are used as reference where it is deemed appropriate. Conclusion: With a uniform QA scheme, variations in QA procedures are kept to a minimum. With a centralized database, data collection and analysis are simplified. This program will facilitate uniformity in patient treatments and analysis of large amounts of QA data campus-wide, which will ultimately facilitate FMEA.« less

Best-practice checklists for tephra collection, analysis and reporting - a draft consensus from the Tephra 2014 workshop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, K.; Bursik, M. I.; Kuehn, S. C.

2015-12-01

The Tephra 2014 Workshop (3-7 August 2014) discussed major developments, best practices, future directions, and critical needs in tephra studies from both volcanological and tephrochronological perspectives. In a consensus-seeking session held at the end of the workshop, the international group of over 70 tephra scientists focused on two complementary themes: (A) the need for common best practices in tephra data collection and reporting among different scientific disciplines, and (B) the need to establish common, accessible mechanisms for tephra data archiving and retrieval. Tephra is the focus of a wide range of research in volcanology, petrology, tephrochronology and tephrostratigraphy (with applications in studies of environmental/climate change, surface processes, paleolimnology, etc.), ash dispersion and fallout modeling, and archaeology, paleoanthropology, and human origins. Researchers in each field have specific objectives that may or may not overlap. The focus on best practices is a first step towards standardized protocols for the collection, analysis and reporting of tephra data across and within disciplines. Such uniformity will facilitate the development and population of useful tephra databases. Current initiatives include the development of best practice checklists as a starting point for ensuring uniformity and completeness. The goals of the checklists are to: 1) ensure consistency among tephra scientists, regardless of research focus, 2) provide basic, comprehensible, metadata requirements, especially those who collect tephra as a peripheral part of their research, 3) help train students, and 4) help journal editors to know which essential metadata should be included in published works. Consistency in tephra sample collection, analysis, and reporting attained by use of these checklists should ultimately aid in improving correlation of tephras across geographically large areas, and facilitate collaborative tephra research. Current and future versions of the checklists will be made available at: https://vhub.org/groups/tephra2014/resources

Aggregation in complex triacylglycerol oils: coarse-grained models, nanophase separation, and predicted x-ray intensities.

PubMed

Quinn, Bonnie; Peyronel, Fernanda; Gordon, Tyler; Marangoni, Alejandro; Hanna, Charles B; Pink, David A

2014-11-19

Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are biologically important molecules which form crystalline nanoplatelets (CNPs) and, ultimately, fat crystal networks in edible oils. Characterizing the self-assembled hierarchies of these networks is important to understanding their functionality and oil binding capacity. We have modelled CNPs in multicomponent oils and studied their aggregation. The oil comprises (a) a liquid component, and (b) components which phase separately on a nano-scale (nano-phase separation) to coat the surfaces of the CNPs impenetrably, either isotropically or anisotropically, with either liquid-like coatings or crystallites, forming a coating of thickness ?. We modelled three cases: (i) liquid?liquid nano-phase separation, (ii) solid?liquid nano-phase separation, with CNPs coated isotropically, and (iii) CNPs coated anisotropically. The models were applied to mixes of tristearin and triolein with fully hydrogenated canola oil, shea butter with high oleic sunflower oil, and cotton seed oil. We performed Monte Carlo simulations, computed structure functions and concluded: (1) three regimes arose: (a) thin coating regime, Δ < 0.0701 u (b) transition regime, 0.0701 u ≤ Δ ≤ 0.0916 u and (c) thick coating regime, Δ > 0.0916 u. (arbitrary units, u) (2) The thin coating regime exhibits 1D TAGwoods, which aggregate, via DLCA/RLCA, into fractal structures which are uniformly distributed in space. (3) In the thick coating regime, for an isotropic coating, TAGwoods are not formed and coated CNPs will not aggregate but will be uniformly distributed in space. For anisotropic coating, TAGwoods can be formed and might form 1D strings but will not form DLCA/RLCA clusters. (4) The regimes are, approximately: thin coating, 0 < Δ < 7.0 nm transition regime, 7.0 < Δ < 9.2 nm and thick coating, Δ > 9.2 nm (5) The minimum minority TAG concentration required to undergo nano-phase separation is, approximately, 0.29% (thin coatings) and 0.94% (thick coatings). Minority components can have substantial effects upon aggregation for concentrations less than 1%.

A comparative analysis of pre-Silurian crustal building blocks of the northern and the southern Appalachian orogen

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hibbard, J.P.; van Staal, C.R.; Rankin, D.W.

2007-01-01

The New York promontory serves as the divide between the northern and southern segments of the Appalachian orogen. Antiquated subdivisions, distinct for each segment, implied that they had lithotectonic histories that were independent of each other. Using new lithotectonic subdivisions we compare first order features of the pre-Silurian orogenic 'building blocks' in order to test the validity of the implication of independent lithotectonic histories for the two segments. Three lithotectonic divisions, termed here the Laurentian, Iapetan, and the peri-Gondwanan realms, characterize the entire orogen. The Laurentian realm, composed of native North American rocks, is remarkably uniform for the length of the orogen. It records the multistage Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic rift-drift history of the Appalachian passive margin, formation of a Taconic Seaway, and the ultimate demise of both in the Middle Ordovician. The Iapetan realm encompasses mainly oceanic and magmatic arc tracts that once lay within the Iapetus Ocean, between Laurentia and Gondwana. In the northern segment, the realm is divisible on the basis of stratigraphy and faunal provinciality into peri-Laurentian and peri-Gondwanan tracts that were amalgamated in the Late Ordovician. South of New York, stratigraphic and faunal controls decrease markedly; rock associations are not inconsistent with those of the northern Appalachians, although second-order differences exist. Exposed exotic crustal blocks of the peri-Gondwanan realm include Ganderia, Avalonia, and Meguma in the north, and Carolinia in the south. Carolinia most closely resembles Ganderia, both in early evolution and Late Ordovician-Silurian docking to Laurentia. Our comparison indicates that, to a first order, the pre-Silurian Appalachian orogen developed uniformly, starting with complex rifting and a subsequent drift phase to form the Appalachian margin, followed by the consolidation of Iapetan components and ending with accretion of the peri-Gonwanan Ganderia and Carolinia. This deduction implies that any first-order differences between northern and southern segments post-date Late Ordovician consolidation of a large portion of the orogen.

Strain Rate Dependent Deformation and Strength Modeling of a Polymer Matrix Composite Utilizing a Micromechanics Approach. Degree awarded by Cincinnati Univ.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldberg, Robert K.

1999-01-01

Potential gas turbine applications will expose polymer matrix composites to very high strain rate loading conditions, requiring an ability to understand and predict the material behavior under extreme conditions. Specifically, analytical methods designed for these applications must have the capability of properly capturing the strain rate sensitivities and nonlinearities that are present in the material response. The Ramaswamy-Stouffer constitutive equations, originally developed to analyze the viscoplastic deformation of metals, have been modified to simulate the nonlinear deformation response of ductile, crystalline polymers. The constitutive model is characterized and correlated for two representative ductile polymers. Fiberite 977-2 and PEEK, and the computed results correlate well with experimental values. The polymer constitutive equations are implemented in a mechanics of materials based composite micromechanics model to predict the nonlinear, rate dependent deformation response of a composite ply. Uniform stress and uniform strain assumptions are applied to compute the effective stresses of a composite unit cell from the applied strains. The micromechanics equations are successfully verified for two polymer matrix composites. IM7/977-2 and AS4/PEEK. The ultimate strength of a composite ply is predicted with the Hashin failure criteria that were implemented in the composite micromechanics model. The failure stresses of the two composite material systems are accurately predicted for a variety of fiber orientations and strain rates. The composite deformation model is implemented in LS-DYNA, a commercially available transient dynamic explicit finite element code. The matrix constitutive equations are converted into an incremental form, and the model is implemented into LS-DYNA through the use of a user defined material subroutine. The deformation response of a bulk polymer and a polymer matrix composite are predicted by finite element analyses. The results compare reasonably well to experimental values, with some discrepancies. The discrepancies are at least partially caused by the method used to integrate the rate equations in the polymer constitutive model.

Ultimate Lateral Capacity of Rigid Pile in c- φ Soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wei-min

2018-03-01

To date no analytical solution of the pile ultimate lateral capacity for the general c- φ soil has been obtained. In the present study, a new dimensionless embedded ratio was proposed and the analytical solutions of ultimate lateral capacity and rotation center of rigid pile in c- φ soils were obtained. The results showed that both the dimensionless ultimate lateral capacity and dimensionless rotation center were the univariate functions of the embedded ratio. Also, the ultimate lateral capacity in the c- φ soil was the combination of the ultimate lateral capacity ( f c ) in the clay, and the ultimate lateral capacity ( f φ ) in the sand. Therefore, the Broms chart for clay, solution for clay ( φ=0) put forward by Poulos and Davis, solution for sand ( c=0) obtained by Petrasovits and Awad, and Kondner's ultimate bending moment were all proven to be the special cases of the general solution in the present study. A comparison of the field and laboratory tests in 93 cases showed that the average ratios of the theoretical values to the experimental value ranged from 0.85 to 1.15. Also, the theoretical values displayed a good agreement with the test values.

7 CFR 1005.61 - Computation of uniform prices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... month, the market administrator shall compute a uniform butterfat price, a uniform skim milk price, and...) and (a)(2) of this section. (b) Uniform skim milk price. The uniform skim milk price per hundredweight... paragraph (a) of this section times 3.5 pounds of butterfat; and (2) Multiply the uniform skim milk price...

Biological Efficacy of Permethrin Treatment on New U.S. Military Uniforms

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The United States Army and United States Marine Corps (USMC) are fielding uniforms that incorporate fire resistant fibers into the uniform material. For the U.S. Army, the change in uniform composition to produce the Fire-Resistant Army Combat Uniform (FRACU) results in a uniform that does not reta...

Ultimate evidence for the ultimate regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smits, Alexander J.

2018-04-01

The ultimate regime of turbulence has been observed, more than half a century after its first prediction. Inspiration for achieving this technical feat came from the imperfections of an everyday pipe.

Analysis of Basis Weight Uniformity of Microfiber Nonwovens and Its Impact on Permeability and Filtration Properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amirnasr, Elham

It is widely recognized that nonwoven basis weight non-uniformity affects various properties of nonwovens. However, few studies can be found in this topic. The development of uniformity definition and measurement methods and the study of their impact on various web properties such as filtration properties and air permeability would be beneficial both in industrial applications and in academia. They can be utilized as a quality control tool and would provide insights about nonwoven behaviors that cannot be solely explained by average values. Therefore, for quantifying nonwoven web basis weight uniformity we purse to develop an optical analytical tool. The quadrant method and clustering analysis was utilized in an image analysis scheme to help define "uniformity" and its spatial variation. Implementing the quadrant method in an image analysis system allows the establishment of a uniformity index that can be used to quantify the degree of uniformity. Clustering analysis has also been modified and verified using uniform and random simulated images with known parameters. Number of clusters and cluster properties such as cluster size, member and density was determined. We also utilized this new measurement method to evaluate uniformity of nonwovens produced with different processes and investigated impacts of uniformity on filtration and permeability. The results of quadrant method shows that uniformity index computed from quadrant method demonstrate a good range for non-uniformity of nonwoven webs. Clustering analysis is also been applied on reference nonwoven with known visual uniformity. From clustering analysis results, cluster size is promising to be used as uniformity parameter. It is been shown that non-uniform nonwovens has provide lager cluster size than uniform nonwovens. It was been tried to find a relationship between web properties and uniformity index (as a web characteristic). To achieve this, filtration properties, air permeability, solidity and uniformity index of meltblown and spunbond samples was measured. Results for filtration test show some deviation between theoretical and experimental filtration efficiency by considering different types of fiber diameter. This deviation can occur due to variation in basis weight non-uniformity. So an appropriate theory is required to predict the variation of filtration efficiency with respect to non-uniformity of nonwoven filter media. And the results for air permeability test showed that uniformity index determined by quadrant method and measured properties have some relationship. In the other word, air permeability decreases as uniformity index on nonwoven web increase.

Learning from ISS-modular adaptive NN control of nonlinear strict-feedback systems.

PubMed

Wang, Cong; Wang, Min; Liu, Tengfei; Hill, David J

2012-10-01

This paper studies learning from adaptive neural control (ANC) for a class of nonlinear strict-feedback systems with unknown affine terms. To achieve the purpose of learning, a simple input-to-state stability (ISS) modular ANC method is first presented to ensure the boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system and the convergence of tracking errors in finite time. Subsequently, it is proven that learning with the proposed stable ISS-modular ANC can be achieved. The cascade structure and unknown affine terms of the considered systems make it very difficult to achieve learning using existing methods. To overcome these difficulties, the stable closed-loop system in the control process is decomposed into a series of linear time-varying (LTV) perturbed subsystems with the appropriate state transformation. Using a recursive design, the partial persistent excitation condition for the radial basis function neural network (NN) is established, which guarantees exponential stability of LTV perturbed subsystems. Consequently, accurate approximation of the closed-loop system dynamics is achieved in a local region along recurrent orbits of closed-loop signals, and learning is implemented during a closed-loop feedback control process. The learned knowledge is reused to achieve stability and an improved performance, thereby avoiding the tremendous repeated training process of NNs. Simulation studies are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.